A Spark in the Darkness
by Chas1881
Summary: Picking up where Volume One left off, Sun has to figure out where he belongs. Mostly about Sun, but with other RWBY characters that might play lead in some sections. This story will house every chapter set in the Darkened-Light verse. All events that are shown in Volume Two/Three don't happen in this story.
1. Chapter 1: Aftermath

**Chapter 1: Aftermath**

"Hey wait a minute... Where's Penny?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know, she was sitting there a second ago." Yang replied.

"Well she obviously isn't there now." Blake said.

They spent a few minutes looking around for the crazy red-headed girl that had been stalking them for the past few days.

"I can't say I'm sorry to see her go… she was giving me the creeps." Yang whispered the last part.

"YANG" Ruby yelled. "Don't say that about people! It's not nice!"

"Calm down, let's think about this rationaly." That was Weiss, adding to the conversation for the first time.

"Lady, someone has disappeared and you want us to sit down and think?" Sun finally got up the nerve to question Weiss.

"Shut up, you" she replied with heavy undertones of murder apparent in her voice.

"Let up Weiss, he was only speaking his mind." Blake said, immediately coming to the aid of Sun, who was looking slightly afraid and a little out of his depth.

"Well it's not exactly the best one to listen to, is it?"

"Seriously everyone, stop, enough." Ruby said, thinking the bickering had gone on long enough. "Let's just go back to Beacon so we can have a reasonable debate and have time to think about what just happened."

"Wow Ruby, you're acting more and more like mom every day. It's so cute!" Yang squealed, pulling Ruby into a hug.

"Shut up Yang." Ruby grumbled as she broke free of the grip. "We should get back before we are at each other's throats."

"Uh, totally unrelated question, but ah, what about me?" Sun asked.

"What are you 'what'ing about?" Blake questioned.

"Well, I'm new here and I don't know where to go." Sun replied. "I had been thinking about applying to go to Beacon but I'm not sure."

"Well I'm sure that we can convince Ozpin to let you in." Blake said. "But I don't know what team you'll be put on."

"That's all I can ask for."

"Okay then, it looks like everything's settled." Yang barged in. "Now can we please go back? I'm tired!"

As everyone left, one lone figure stayed where he was. Sun was still not sure where he should go for the night, but he was quickly ushered in the direction that everyone else was walking in.

"You're part of us now." Blake said. "Even though Weiss hates you."

"Thanks Blake." He breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

><p>The next morning everybody in team RWBY woke to the sound of excited knocking.<p>

BANG! BANG! BANG! "Is everybody awake in there?" Nora yelled from behind it, continuing to hit the door with woeful abandon. "I want to know what happened last night."

"Uh, Ren here!" Called another voice. "Excuse us for interrupting but Nora isn't the only one interested."

"That's right!" Jaune chimed in. "Fill us in!"

Just as Nora was about to ram the door down with her shoulder, the door opened and she stumbled forward. As luck would have it, she tripped and landed on Sun, who had spent the night on the floor of the room.

"Oof" He exclaimed as the wind was knocked out of him.

"Who are you?" Nora asked in her usual direct manner.

"Nora, I don't think that is the right way to say hi to someone you just met." Ren scolded.

"No, it's alright." Sun replied as Nora jumped off him. "I should probably introduce myself anyway."

Before he got a chance to tell the team, Ruby burst in.

"He is Sun! He was first friends with Blake and he is a really good fighter and he has this cool staff-gun thingy and he is now a friend to all of us!" She yelled, stringing all of the sentences together until they were almost one word.

"Uh." Jaune said. "What? I got to 'He is Sun' and then you lost me."

"Yeah, I didn't quite catch that either." Pyrrha added, having come in a few seconds after the rest of team JNPR and was the only one still looking drowsy out of her team.

"Yeah, like Ruby said, I'm Sun, I have this as my weapon." As he said that, he pulled out his staff. "And I guess I'm now friends with them." Gesturing backwards towards the rest of the team, who were mostly still in bed.

"Riiiiight." Ren, who was still recovering from Ruby's outburst, answered. "I'll take your word for it over Ruby's."

This, inevitably, forced a deep frown onto Ruby as she heard that she was not going to be used as a first-hand source. Blake, who took that opportunity to get out of bed, walked over.

"Now with introductions out of the way, I would like to go back to bed." Blake said with a hint of irritation in her voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Pyrrha exclaimed. "We'll leave now, right guys?"

"Yeah, right, sorry for disturbing you." Jaune said as he slipped out of the room.

"Come on Nora." Ren said as he dragged Nora out of the room and shut the door.

"Are they gone?" Came a muffled voice from across the room.

"Yes Yang, they're gone." Ruby replied.

There was an audible sigh of relief both from the bed the voice had come from and another from beside them.

"Finally, now can we go back to sleep?" Weiss muttered.

"Yes, I think we should, although the floor is kind of uncomfortable, sooo can I have a bed?" Sun asked with a ray of hope in his voice.

"NO!" Came the reply from all four girls who were now secured in their beds.

"That's what I thought." Sun groaned as he lay back down on the hard floor. "I hope we go and talk to Ozpin tomorrow, I need a soft bed to lie on."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>  
><strong>So this is the beginning of what I hope will be a long series. This is kind of a pilot episode and so it was not very exciting. Focusing a bit more on Sun than anyone else and picking up where episode 16 left off, I tried to write what I thought was the logical next step. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. I will not put out a schedule on when I will update so don't expect anything too quickly. I will wait to see what response this gets and might continue even if I only get one read. After all, that is at least one person who deemed it good enough to look. I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review! Chas1881<strong>


	2. Chapter 2: Awakening

**Chapter 2: Awakening**

After another hour of precious sleep, Blake opened her eyes to find her vision consisting of one color, yellow.

"Good morning, sleepy head!" Yang yelled with a smile.

"How many times have I told you not to wake me like that?" Blake asked.

"About as many times as I've done it."

"But…"

"No buts, I have something special planned for you today."

"Oh, and what would that be?" Blake said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It's a secret."

Blake started to get up, but found her progress hampered by the heavy body sitting on top of her.

"Please get off, I want to get out of bed."

"Fine." Yang grumbled. "And you were so comfy too…"

Yang jumped off with an enthusiasm that bellied her last response. Blake took the opportunity to hop out of bed, before remembering that Sun was on the floor asleep. Or, at least, was asleep.

"Can you guys quiet down?"

"Nope, it's time for everyone to get up!" Yang replied.

Sun groaned with the effort of getting up, clearly distraught that his sleep had been interrupted twice in the last two hours.

Blake moved to the closet to grab some clothes, as she got there, she looked back.

"Hey, where are Ruby and Weiss?"

"Who knows, Weiss said they had something to do." Yang answered.

"Well, I hope they stay out of trouble."

"They'll be fine, calm down."

And with that, Blake slipped into the bathroom to take a shower. Yang lost the facade of carefree excitement and took on a thoughtful look.

"What is it?" Sun asked, still trying to get the cricks out of his neck and back. 'I really need to find a bed before tomorrow night.'

"Oh, I'm just worried Blake won't like her surprise."

"What's the surprise?"

Yang stole a glance at the bathroom door to make sure Blake wasn't coming out anytime soon. Hearing the shower running, she continued.

"Well, I wanted to take her out shopping, then we would go eat somewhere nice."

"Sounds more like a date to me."

From the growing redness on Yang's face, he could tell he was right.

"Well…" Yang replied, trying to think of some other way to word it, and failing. "I guess that's what it is. Do you think that's a good idea?"

"I know I've only been here one night, but after watching you guys interact this weekend, I think that it's a great idea. I just wish I had thought to make a move first." He added a little ruefully.

She glanced sideways at him to make sure he wasn't serious, and then seemed to realize she was in her pajamas still.

"Guess I should go get changed."

"Yeah, you do that." Sun replied distractedly, as he turned away to think.

* * *

><p>Blake walked out of the bathroom in time to see a blur of yellow blow past her. She took a second to steady herself, then looked around the room. She saw Sun standing in front of the window, looking deep in thought.<p>

"Is everything okay?"

Sun didn't respond, so she walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"What?" Sun jumped at the sudden touch.

"I said, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just worried about where Ozpin will put me after today."

"I'm sure he will find somewhere for you. Although I have to admit," She added with a slight smile. "It'll be weird not having you around after this weekend."

He turned slightly to smile back at her, pausing to look into those deep amber eyes.

"You better get ready, Yang will be out in a minute."

"Do you know the surprise?"

"I do, and I think you'll enjoy it."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in another part of the school.<p>

"Weissssssssss, this is boring."

"Ruby, I've told you again and again, it's important."

"But Weiss, we've been reading for hours."

"Yes, and do you even understand what it is you're reading?"

"A book?"

"Ugh, well yes, but do you know what kind of book?"

"A stupid one?"

"No, you're reading combat books, they're supposed to help you understand what to do when you're fighting with a teammate."

"But their boooooring."

"They wouldn't be helpful if they weren't."

At that, Ruby stood up and promptly started to walk away. She wasn't to get far, after a few steps she heard the whisper of Weiss pulling out her sword. This was quickly followed by Weiss saying that she was sorry for what she was about to do. As Ruby heard this, she broke into a run for two steps before being encased in ice.

"That is so you don't escape for a while."

As Weiss said it, she melted the ice directly in front of Ruby's face.

"Now I can't read! You can't make me read if I'm covered in ice!" Ruby said gleefully, before seeing the book dangling in front of her face.

"Yes you can, you just have the added benefit of getting frostbite while you do so. Now, I want you to read me pages one to twenty five before lunch."

Ruby sighed as she started resignedly reading out of the book in front of her.

"Combat for Dummies: Chapter 1…"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>The schedule that I will try to keep is posted on my profile, so check there to see when the next chapter will come out. Be prepared for me to miss a day sometimes, so don't go crazy if I do. On another note, thank you for all of the support, it means a lot to me. Also, don't forget to express constructive criticism in the reviews, I want to make this story the best it can be, and that means taking reader's advice. Chas1881**


	3. Chapter 3: Bumblebee

**Chapter 3: Bumblebee**

Yang opened the door to the bathroom and saw Sun and Blake standing by the window. She started to walk over to them but cringed when she saw Blake's hand on his shoulder.

'He did say he wished he had thought of it first.' Yang thought jealously.

But that fear was quickly bellied as Blake turned around and Yang found herself mesmerized by the amber eyes staring at her.

"When did you want to leave?" Blake asked, calm and collected as ever.

"As soon as you want to."

"Then why don't we go in a few minutes, I want to have a few minutes to think."

"Okay, that's a good idea, I do still have to finish my hair." Yang said as she looked up disapprovingly at the yellow mane on her head.

"Yeah it does look like a hornet's nest." Sun added helpfully.

While Yang was okay when she criticized her hair, she didn't like it when other people did. She turned suddenly and, pausing only for a second to give a nasty look to Sun, retreated back into the bathroom.

"What was that all about?" Blake asked.

"I guess I hit a nerve." Sun responded, still confused over exactly what he had done wrong.

Sun wasn't going to admit this to the team, but he had very few skills when it came to interacting with other people. So while Yang was concerned Sun might try to steal Blake, there wasn't a lot to worry about.

"Yeah, I guess you did." Blake said.

"Wait, since you guys are leaving, who is gonna take me to Ozpin? It's not as if I can find my way on my own."

"Ask Ruby to, I'm sure she'll be fine with doing it. As long as Weiss doesn't keep her all day."

"I would rather you be there, after all, I haven't really had time to get to know Ruby that well. You are the one I am most comfortable around."

"It would probably be better if the team leader took you to see him, she does have a little more weight in this situation."

"Yeah, I gue-." Sun started before being interrupted by Yang walking out of the bathroom, yelling to Blake that it was time to go.

"Well, Yang is ready, so I guess I should go too. Bye Sun." Blake said as she was being dragged away.

"Yeah, bye." Sun replied, as he turned around to gaze out the window once more.

* * *

><p>"So where are you taking me?" Blake asked, looking around and seeing nothing of interest. "We are kind of in the middle of nowhere."<p>

"Well, this isn't where all of the stores are, but I have something I need to get first." Yang replied, looking for something in the alleyways.

"Ah, so we're going shopping?"

"Yes, that's first on the agenda, but there are other things we will be doing later."

"Such as?"

"That is something for me to know, and you to find out." Yang said while teasingly poking her finger at Blake.

"I've told you not to do that, haven't I?" Blake growled while instinctively lashing out at the finger, which Yang quickly pulled away.

"Yes, I know, I know… AHA, here it is." Yang exclaimed as she pointed towards a run down looking garage.

"'Colton's Garage', is this where we're going shopping?"

"No silly, this is where I keep my prized possession."

"And what would that be?"

"This!" Yang yelled as she pulled up a garage door to reveal a bright yellow motorcycle.

"And what would this be?"

"This is Bumblebee. This is our ride from shop to shop. Isn't she magnificent?"

"It's a deathtrap, but I suppose it's better than walking."

"Well what are you waiting for? Hop on!" Yang said as she jumped on and started it up.

Blake jumped up as well and had just secured a helmet to her head before Yang revved the engine. After a brief look to make sure Blake was ready, Yang sped out of the garage, yelling as she felt the adrenaline course through her body.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, after a huge shopping spree, Yang and Blake walked out of the mall. As they got to Bumblebee, Yang seemed to realize that they had a serious problem.<p>

"Uh, where are we gonna put all this stuff?"

"You should have thought of that before you tore the whole t-shirt rack down looking for one. Although I don't think it was fair that the employee made you buy them all." Blake responded with a smirk.

"Well, let's just call the school and get them to pick it up."

"Great, another waste of money."

"Quiet you, I have money to spare for now."

"Alright fine, call them."

As Yang was on the phone, Blake looked around. She didn't like what she saw, there was a group of thugs standing around a helpless lady. Blake called to Yang, and, receiving only a 'one minute' sign, she headed off towards the group. As she went she casually pulled Gambol Shroud out of its sheath and stealthily approached the group of thugs.

"Nobody move!" She yelled as she grabbed a thug from behind and put her sword up to his throat. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because we need money." One of the thugs replied.

"Yeah, and now a pretty little princess is going to try to stop us, how cute." Another one said.

With that, he leveled his gun at Blake and squeezed the trigger, only to see his friend fall down in agony.

'How did she d-' he thought, but he felt a sharp pain as his wrist got twisted out of position.

As Blake stepped over to help the lady, she looked around at her handiwork. All four of the offenders were lying on the ground in pain. Three of them had broken wrists and another had a gunshot wound in his chest, he was lying ominously still. His comrade was just looking at the gun that lay at his feet, he felt sickened that he had just accidentally killed his friend.

"I believe you dropped this." Blake said as she handed the woman's purse back.

The woman could only stare in shock as the mysterious girl, for she could see that the assailant couldn't be more than 18, walked away.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>  
><strong>So that was a thing. Before I get into anything else, I want to say a huge thank you to my friend Colton. (Whose name you might recognize from the garage.) He's my friend and editor, and is the one who looks over my utter gibberish and turns them into words and sentences. And another thing, in reply to a reviewer named Duckheart, (I'm not sure if you read my reply) but as you can see there will be some Bumblebee action a lot during this story. I find the pairing to be natural and enjoyable to write. If you don't already know, my schedule for when I will post new chapters is on my profile page, so check there to find out when this story will be updated. As always, don't forget to leave constructive criticism in the reviews. Enjoy your Sunday and expect more to come in the future! Chas1881<strong>


	4. Chapter 4: A Long Walk On The Beach

**Chapter 4: A Long Walk On The Beach**

"What was that?" Yang asked, clearly annoyed that in the minute she had been distracted, Blake had gotten into trouble like that. They started walking back towards Bumblebee together.

"That," Blake said with a smile. "Was me taking care of some garbage."

She lost the smile and took on a more worried look.

"Although I'm upset that one of them was killed, it wasn't supposed to happen that way."

"Well he tried to shoot you, it was unfortunate for his friend that he had terrible aim."

"Yang," Blake started, then realized the woman was still looking at them. "We should go."

"But what about our luggage?"

"Ugh, how long will it take for the school to get here?"

"I don't know, fifteen minutes maybe?"

"I don't like the idea of that woman staring at us for that long."

"What do you suggest we do?"

"No clue. Are you sure that you can't ditch _anything_ at all?"

"Positive."

"Well then, this'll be a long fifteen minutes." Blake said with a sigh as she slumped down to lay back on Bumblebee.

* * *

><p>Sun was bored, there was no way around it. He had lost whatever tour guide he could have had when Blake left and he was left to find ways to entertain himself.<p>

He thought briefly about where he could go within the school. He wanted to go to the library, not that he usually liked books, but he had seen Blake reading a lot in their stay together. He wanted to give them a try, and this seemed like a good opportunity to do it. There was one problem: He couldn't go to the library without knowing where it was.

'Where could it be?' He asked himself as he thought back to last night. He had not passed it on the way in so it had to be in the other direction.

He shrugged and walked through the door. He turned left as he got there, and found that there were people roaming about in the halls. As he started to walk, someone behind him put a hand on his shoulder. As he turned around, he recognized who it was.

"Good afternoon." Ren said with a smile. "You're the new guy, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so, do you happen to know where the library is by any chance?"

"Yes, I have to go there anyway, Nora wants me to start reading to her at night, and I can't say no when she does those puppy dog eyes."

"Did somebody say Nora!?" Nora popped in and started rapidly looking between the two boys.

"Yes," Ren replied. "I was just telling Sun, was it?"

At a nod of assent Ren continued.

"I was just telling Sun about the library."

"Okay! I heard my name and I got all excited, do you want company?"

"No thanks Nora, I think I can show Sun on my own, bye."

"Bye-bye Ren!" Nora yelled as she slipped back through the door.

"Okay, are you ready?"

"Whenever you get done talking with your girlfriend." Sun said with a smirk.

"She's not my-" Ren began, but after a tilt of the head from Sun he never completed the statement. "Never mind. Let's just go, follow me."

* * *

><p>Blake and Yang reached the ice cream parlor just after dark. They had just made their escape from the mall after someone from Beacon took their luggage. They walked in and were greeted by a warm glow from inside, and the ding of a bell from above.<p>

"This looks nice," Yang said with a smile. "Too bad we aren't staying."

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

"We're going to go for a long walk on the beach."

"Could you get any more cliche?"

"I could, but then even I get bored."

They reached the counter and ordered their ice cream. Blake got a plain vanilla shake, while Yang got a superman waffle cone.

"Interesting choice." Blake smirked, looking up at her partner.

"Don't make fun of it, it's been my favorite since I was a kid."

They walked out, hearing the ring of the bell as they did so. As they started down the boardwalk towards the beach, Blake slowed down.

"Something wrong?" Yang asked.

"How close to the water are we getting?"

"Why do you ask- oh wait, are you afraid of water?"

Blake looked down and sifted through the sand with her shoe.

"Maybe."

"Well have no fear little kitten. Momma Yang will keep you protected from the big bad water."

"Shut up." Blake replied as she playfully shoved Yang.

As they got down to the beach, they took their shoes off and walked barefoot. As Yang had promised, they stopped well clear of the water and turned to walk parallel to the water line.

After they had been walking for a few minutes, Yang stopped for a second to look at her partner's eyes, watching how they reflected the moonlight.

"Blake?" Yang started.

"Yes Yang?"

"Uh, I don't know how to say this, but I mean I have been thinking that you and I should maybe, um-"

At this Blake looked up with a glint in her eyes. She stopped herself for a second to make sure she was interpreting Yang's words correctly. As she reassured herself Yang was serious, she leaned in as close as she could.

"Yes." Was all Blake said before she kissed her partner on the lips.

* * *

><p>They reached the library and, after making sure Sun knew how to get back and checking out a few books himself, Ren left him to his own devices.<p>

As Sun went down row upon row of bookshelves, he pondered what he was doing here. He had never read a book before, as he had grown up in a very poor setting.

'Interesting,' He thought. 'That even after years of learning to read, I have never once read a normal book.'

As he was contemplating this, a colorful spine caught his eye. He moved over to it and pulled it out. 'Thus Kindly I Scatter' was the title on the cover. He opened the book and read a few words, before closing it and walking to the front desk.

"How can I own this book?"

"You don't own it, you borrow it for a period of time and then give it back." The librarian replied with a friendly smile.

"Well how do I do that?"

"Give it to me and I will check it out for you. What team are you on?"

"I'm new, I don't have a team yet."

"That's okay, your name?"

"Sun."

The librarian scanned the book and handed it back to Sun.

"Enjoy!"

* * *

><p>As Sun returned to Team RWBY's dorm room, he saw that the door was left ajar. He walked in to find Ruby and Weiss already in there.<p>

"Hey." He said.

"Oh, hey Sun." Ruby replied.

"Ruby, I need your help."

"Oh, and what would that be?" Weiss chimed in sarcastically.

"Ruby, I need you to take me to Ozpin. I need to get put on a team." Sun explained.

"Alright, let's go now and get it over with." Ruby said as she jumped off her bunk.

They walked through the hallways before coming to a pair of massive oak doors.

"This is it, you ready to go in?" Ruby asked.

"I guess so."

Ruby knocked on the door with the brass knocker.

"Come in." Said a voice from inside.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>So Bumblebee is really starting to kick off and it is really fun to write. The story may be centered on Sun, but it is fun to write other characters as well. Thank you to Niteloc, another writer on FanFiction, who let me use the title of one of his books. He is the writer who got me into reading these stories, and was the inspiration for writing my own. So again, thanks to him for everything. As always, constructive ****criticism is appreciated in the reviews. Thank you for reading, and have a great day. Chas1881**


	5. Chapter 5: The Confession

**Chapter 5: The Confession**

"Come in." Ozpin was interested in who could be knocking on his door at this hour.

As he had the thought, he saw Ruby walk in with the guy he had seen fighting at the docks.

"Hi, professor!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly. "Sorry to bother you this late at night!"

"It's okay Ruby, who is this with you?"

"This is Sun! He is a person we met over the weekend."

"Yes, I know all about what happened, tell me Ruby, are you okay? That was a nasty shot you took."

"Yeah, I'm fine. But that's not why we're here."

"What are you here for then?"

"I want to stay here at Beacon," Sun cut in. "But I don't have a team, can you give me one?"

"Well, I would give you a new team, but to do that we would need teammates. And we don't have any other new initiates."

"So what will you do?" Ruby asked.

"Well, I have been thinking about this since last night, and I came to the conclusion that you would stay with team RWBY for the time being. Is that okay?" Ozpin quickly looked at Ruby to see if it was sinking in.

"WHAT!?" Ruby yelled. Even Sun seemed taken aback by the turn of events that were unfolding.

"Yes," Ozpin replied calmly. "It appears to be the only logical solution."

"I don't really care, but where would I sleep?" Sun asked.

"You will have to sleep on the ground with a sleeping bag or something."

"Well, I guess I can live with that."

"But he will be in a room of four girls!" Ruby was still not happy with the arrangement.

"Yes, but he has nowhere else to go, and he needs somewhere to sleep."

"Thank you professor." Sun replied. "Ruby let's go."

"Wait," Ozpin called after them. "Sun, I know you are a great fighter, I saw that last night, but you have to go through initiation first."

"Why?" Sun was confused. "You've already put me on a team."

"Well, it's a tradition, and I want to see you fight some more."

"But you said you saw me last night."

"And I want to see you again, report back here tomorrow morning and I will tell you your mission. You are dismissed."

* * *

><p>As Sun and Ruby got back to the room, they were greeted by Yang.<p>

"Oh, hi sis!"

"Hey Yang, when did you get back?"

"They got back a minute ago." Weiss answered.

"Ok, so Sun will stay in our room with us."

This, of course, brought outrage throughout the room.

"But he's a boy!" Weiss yelled. "I can't sleep in the same room as a boy!"

"Uh Weiss, you did last night." Yang said.

"But I thought that was a one-time thing."

"But you still tolerated it." Blake broke in.

"Ugh, fine!" Weiss replied in disgust. "Just make sure he finds somewhere to sleep that is not anywhere near me."

And with that, she got up and stormed out of the room.

"So, you're rooming with us, eh?" Yang asked, turning towards Sun in the process.

"Yeah, I guess so." He responded.

"Okay, but I have to lay down some ground rules: 1. Don't walk into the bathroom unannounced. 2. Don't go rummaging through our closets. And most importantly, 3. Stay away from my girlfriend."

"So I take it you were successful today?"

"You could say that." Blake said with a smirk as she came over to Yang and hugged her.

Ruby finally got the picture and pointed at her sister, mouth moving but no sounds coming out.

"Calm down, sis. I'm sure you saw it coming."

"But, but, but-" Ruby fell to the ground in shock. "Why did you never tell me before?"

"Didn't cross my mind."

This was probably the worst thing to say in this situation, but it succeded in getting Ruby back to her feet. She walked out of the room, clearly still in shock, and started off to find Weiss.

"So, that was a thing." Yang exclaimed as she saw the abrupt exit.

"You probably should have told her." Blake said.

"Yeah that would have probably been smart." Sun added.

"But, it does solve the issue of finding somewhere to sleep." Yang said with a mischievous grin.

"How?" Blake asked.

"Because there is now an open bed, ready for someone to sleep in."

"There is?"

"Yes, I have now made the move to your bed, so my old one is ready for Sun to sleep in."

"Are you saying we will be sleeping together?"

"Yep, aren't you excited?"

"Wait, hold up, can we at least change the sheets first?" Sun asked, he had not expected to be promoted from the floor so quickly.

"Yeah, fine whatever." Yang replied, quickly bringing the conversation back towards the possibility of sleeping with Blake. "I can't wait to cuddle with you tonight!"

"Well, why wait? We can do it now." Blake said as she pushed Yang on to their bed.

Blake walked over to Sun before she joined Yang, who was laying on the bed looking quite happy with the proceedings.

"Welcome to the team." Blake walked back to the bed and slid in.

Blake felt arms move around her waist and she reciprocated the gesture.

"I'm just going to let myself out." Sun muttered as he strolled out the door, taking his new book with him.

* * *

><p>Ruby walked through the hallways, looking for Weiss. She was clearly distressed.<p>

'How could she not tell me?' She asked herself. 'I'm her sister.'

As she thought this, she heard a strange sound from one of the classrooms, it sounded like crying.

Ruby stealthily moved over to the door the sound was coming from. As she peeked in through the glass, she thought she could see Weiss sitting at a desk with her head in her hands.

Ruby cautiously opened the door as silently as she could, she moved to where Weiss was and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh!" Weiss jumped up and whirled around, only to see Ruby standing in front of her. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come in."

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Well, it's just that, um, I mean, you wouldn't understand." Weiss replied as she put her head back in her hands.

"I may not understand it, but you can at least voice them to me."

"Well," Weiss took a deep breath, obviously conflicted as to whether she should tell Ruby or not. Out of options, she gave in and started. "During my time at White Castle, I wanted to date a lot of people, but my parents always said no to every person I brought in. They were convinced that I could not make the decision myself and even tried to marry me to the son of another rich dust company head. So, as the day drew nearer to the marriage, I looked more desperately for ways out. Eventually I made a deal with my parents, I would go to Beacon if I could get out of the engagement. So, to cover their tracks, my parents had my fiancee killed. They made it look like an accident, and people believed them. And now every time I see a happy relationship, I think about all of the people I have loved in the past. And how my parents would kill someone just to keep an insignifigant portion of their reputation alive."

"Weiss, I want you to know, that whatever you have been through, and whatever you will go through in the future, I will be here to help you in any way possible. Even if it is just giving you a shoulder to cry on."

"Thanks Ruby." Weiss stood up and hugged her, already crying on the shoulder promised to her.

"You're welcome Weiss." Ruby whispered into Weiss' ear, feeling the racking sobs breaking the fragile girl in front of her.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>So I am releasing this chapter a day early because it is my birthday today. Thank you for all the support you have given me. This is one of the best birthday presents I could have asked for. As always, leave constructive criticism in the reviews. I wish you all a great Saturday and good luck for anyone who is snowed in (We have only had cold weather but no snow.) Thank you and enjoy! Chas1881**


	6. Chapter 6: Juniper

**Chapter 6: Juniper**

Sun didn't go far, he made it into the hallway and was invited into Team JNPR's room by Ren. As the door opened, he saw what could only be described as a party. There was food out on a table and music was playing. Jaune and Pyrrha were over jumping on one of the beds, and Nora was rummaging through Ren's bag.

"Nora!" Ren yelled.

"Sorry Ren," Nora sang, standing up and stepping clear of the bag. "I wanted to find the syrup and I thought you had hid it in here."

"Nora, think about it, if I wanted to hide it, I wouldn't hide it in the first place you would look."

It took no time at all for Nora to figure out what he meant, and when she did she rushed into the bathroom.

"Hey Sun, what's up?" Pyrrha called from across the room, voice fluctuating as she bounced up and down.

"Not much, I had to get out of the room." Sun responded.

"Why is that?"

"Yang and Blake are over there cuddling in bed."

"What?" Jaune miscalculated his jump and hit his head on the ceiling.

"You heard me right, and I have to sleep in that room tonight."

"Oh yeah, I meant to ask you about that." Ren cut in. "What did Ozpin say about your sleeping arrangements?"

"Well, I'm a member of Team RWBY for a while until we get enough new initiates for me to be on a team of my own."

"It's interesting he would do it that way." Pyrrha said thoughtfully as she sat down on the bed.

"And there's more, even though I'm on a team, I still have to go through initiation tomorrow."

"I guess I understand it, Ozpin wants to see what you're made of." Jaune reasoned.

"But that's just it, Ozpin has already seen me in action. He saw me fight last night."

"Well, I guess he wants to see you in a more controlled atmosphere." Ren said. "If you think about it, last night must have been a little hectic."

"Yeah, I guess your right."

"Of course he is, he's sm-" Jaune was rudely interrupted by Nora running out of the bathroom, already sticky with syrup.

"REN!" She screamed. "I FOUND IT!"

"So I've noticed." Ren replied with a slight smile.

"Back to the topic on hand, what assignment do you think he will give me?" Sun asked.

"It might be the same as ours, but I doubt it. We had to find partners and form teams, and you already have a team."

"Sooooo?" Sun let the question drag out.

"Honestly? No clue, Pyrrha?"

"Maybe Forever Fall?" Pyrrha supplied.

"Or it could be a school mission," Nora provided in a low, story telling voice. "Where he has to steal an item from everyone's closet and bring it back to Ozpin!"

Nora had been getting louder and louder, and by the end she was practically yelling.

"Nora, I doubt that highly." Ren rolled his eyes.

"Well, whatever it is, I'm ready for it. Thanks for the help, good night!" Sun said.

"Good Night!" Team JNPR chorused together.

* * *

><p>Sun woke up the next morning and found himself on the floor again.<p>

"How did I?"

"You fell a few minutes ago." Ruby replied, staring down at him from her bed.

Sun could tell she was trying to supress a smile, and was failing miserably. He looked over at his bed and saw that it was held up by books.

"Why is the bed standing on books?" He asked.

"It was all we had at the time, I mean, look at my bed."

Her's, of course, was hanging precariously from the ceiling. It was surrounded by an extra sheet.

"How have these beds not given out yet?"

"I don't know," Ruby replied. "When are you going to see Ozpin?"

"I guess I'll go now."

"Bye Sun!" Yang yelled from her bed.

Blake untangled herself from her partner and walked over to Sun.

"Good luck." She said.

"Alright, bye." Sun walked into the hallway and was immediately stopped by Ren.

"I wanted to wish you good luck in your initiation today on behalf of the rest of my team."

"Thanks Ren."

"It's nothing."

"Well, any last words of advice?"

"Don't die."

"Yeah thanks." Sun replied sarcastically as he started walking towards Ozpin's office.

* * *

><p>Ozpin had been racking his brain for a long time, trying to figure out where to send Sun. It was well into the next day before he came to a decision. He had gotten a total of three hours of sleep over the course of the last night.<p>

As Sun walked through the door, looking distinctly nervous, Ozpin smiled and gestured towards the seat across the table.

"So, I bet you're wondering what your initiation will be." Ozpin stated.

Sun nodded nervously.

"Well let me put an end to that." Ozpin told him.

"Ok."

"You will start at Beacon Cliff and be launched into the forest. You will proceed to find four flags scattered around the forest."

"What do they look like?"

"Each one has the symbol of one of your teammates."

"You mean like how Blake has that black fire thing?"

"Yes, just like that. But, continuing on, you have to bring all four of those flags back to the cliff."

"Sounds simple enough, where are the flags?"

"Somewhere in the forest, you will have to be the one to find them."

"Alright, when should I make my way to the cliff?"

"Now, let's go."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>Another short chapter, I'm sorry that it has to be like that. The good news is, most of the time I am writing I end up trying to shorten the story slightly and save it for another chapter. On another note, I decided to give Team JNPR some love in this chapter. I think that they will be making more appearances as the story progresses. Thank you everyone for reading and don't forget to leave constructive criticism in the reviews. Enjoy your Wednesday! PS: We finally got snow here in North Carolina! It's a birthday present that came a few days late.**


	7. Chapter 7: Initiation

**Chapter 7: Initiation**

Sun stood on the catapult and looked over at Ozpin. The professor was as calm as ever, standing over to the side drinking his coffee.

"Are you ready?" Ozpin asked the nervous boy in front of him.

"Of course I am, get on with it." Came the slightly wounded reply.

"Alright, you know your mission, and you have accepted. Start the launch sequence."

Sun could feel the mechanics working under his feet and he switched to a stance more suited for takeoff.

"Here goes nothing." He breathed, feeling the plate begin to launch forward.

"Good luck." Ozpin said as Sun was flung into the sky, he pulled out his scroll to watch the proceedings.

Sun looked around for a place to land, he found a suitable looking tree and aimed for it.

As he got closer, he grabbed one of the higher branches with his tail. He released and flipped forward, clinging onto another as he slowed himself down. He finally hit the ground and rolled to decrease the risk of injury.

"That wasn't so hard, now where are those flags." With that, he took off, looking around constantly.

He had been running at a steady pace for about five minutes before he caught a glimpse of white among the trees. He moved over to it and looked around before grabbing the white flag that was hanging from a branch.

"One down, three to go."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back at Beacon, Jaune was getting ready for the day ahead. As he pulled on his uniform, he looked over at Pyrrha, who had been putting her makeup on.<p>

"How do you think Sun's doing?" He asked as he walked over to her.

"I'm sure he's fine, Ruby seemed impressed with the way he fought, and Blake seems to trust him." Pyrrha replied with a smile.

"Yeah, but even the best can have problems." Jaune still wasn't convinced.

"He's fine, now hurry up, we have to get to class." Ren broke in, trying to herd them towards the door.

"Hey, where's Nora?" Pyrrha asked.

"No clue, haven't seen her."

They heard giggling coming from the closet that Ren and Nora shared.

"HOW DID YOU NOT SEE ME?" Nora yelled gleefully as she ran from behind the wall of clothes. "YOU GOT READY RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!"

"You watched me dress?" Ren asked quietly, quite put off by the fact.

"Well, I um." Nora seemed to be at a loss of words for the first time.

"That's a bit creepy Nora, even for you." Jaune said.

"But," Nora was still searching for words to say. "That doesn't change the fact that it was a really good hiding spot."

"Oh, nobody was questioning that," Pyrrha cut in. "But still, you need to tone it down."

Pyrrha took on a look of mischievousness and then said, very quietly.

"Unless, there is something happening here that we don't know about."

The two people in question turned very red at this and turned away, mumbling incoherently. Pyrrha wanted to press the advantage, so she nodded to Jaune.

"Yeah, you two troublemakers have been spending a lot of time together." Jaune helped.

"But, we always have, we're best friends." Nora was still very red in the face, but she held a flickering hope that because Ren was very red too, he harbored the same feelings for her.

"Yeah, for a very long time." Ren was thinking along the same lines as Nora, but Jaune and Pyrrha were the only ones to notice it.

Pyrrha gave Jaune another look to tell him to let Ren and Nora off the hook. Jaune nodded almost imperceptibly, and Pyrrha started towards the door.

"Well, I guess we'll leave you two to deal with the obvious emotions you both have for each other."

As the door closed, Pyrrha caught the two already red faces becoming even worse.

"Job well done, now let's go have some fun." Pyrrha said to Jaune as the two walked away from the room.

* * *

><p>Sun looked up and saw a flash of red. As he moved closer to the tree he had seen it in, he heard a roar from the trees. He leaped sideways as an ursa charged out of them. He pulled out his weapon and hit the ursa as it ran by.<p>

He turned and jumped into a tree using his tail. The first Ursa's mate came at him from the other side, smashing the branch he had been sitting on a moment before.

He switched to shotgun mode as he swung to another branch. The two Ursi charged him and he shot both of them in the chest.

He leaped higher and grabbed the red flag that was hanging from the top of the tree, before falling back down and blasting both.

The Ursi fell to the ground lifelessly as Sun walked away, tucking his staff away and adjusting the flags on his back.

"Two down, halfway done." He muttered, walking away.

* * *

><p>Weiss woke up to the sound of muffled laughter and looked over at the bed across the room.<p>

Blake was looking down at Yang from her slightly elevated position, she was doing her best to stifle the laughs that were threatening to overcome her.

"It's not funny," Yang pouted from the ground. "You pushed me."

"I did nothing of the sort, you flailed out and fell off the bed." Blake replied, still having trouble keeping her composure.

"Will you two quiet down?" Weiss asked, clearly annoyed. "You woke me up and if you don't stop, you could wake Ruby up."

"Too late." Came a voice from above. "I've been awake for quite a while."

Ruby leaned over the side of her bed and smiled at Weiss.

"Good morning!" She said.

"Good morning, Ruby." Weiss replied in a much kinder voice than before.

While all this had been happening, Yang and Blake had continued their argument.

"But you should have at least tried to keep me from falling." Yang said.

"By the time I had awoken, you were already on the ground, crying like a baby." Blake responded, with a little heat.

"Well, I wish you had woken up a bit fast-" Yang suddenly seemed to realize she was still on the ground.

She stood up and looked over at Weiss and Ruby.

"Those two are growing closer all the time." Yang said to Blake with a smile.

"Yeah, I agree that they have been spending a lot more time together."

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" There was a devilish grin on Yang's face.

"I have to say I'm really glad I'm not. Come on, let's leave them be."

With that, Blake grabbed Yang and dragged her out of the room. Weiss and Ruby looked on with amusement.

"Well, that was interesting." Ruby said.

"Yes, those two have an interesting dynamic." Weiss replied, sneaking a look at Ruby as she did so.

"It's kind of creeping me out, the whole two girls thing."

"Are you against it?"

"Not really, it's just that I've never seen it before. Why do you ask? Are you against it?"

"No, I'm not against it. In fact, you could say I am very supportive of it."

"What do you mean?" Ruby felt a bright spark of hope ignite inside her.

"You know how I said I brought a lot of people home to my parents?"

"Yes."

"Well, not all of them were males. I brought home some females too, and I think I loved some of them more than some of the guys."

"Really?" Ruby felt the small spark grow into a warm glow.

"Yeah, and I still think that I prefer girls over boys." Weiss looked up at Ruby with a small smile and caught the excited glint in her eye. "Ruby? Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Well I uh, um, you see, uh, maybe?" Ruby stuttered.

Weiss smiled, already realizing what Ruby was starting to say.

"Ruby?"

"Yes Weiss?"

"Just say it please."

"I, I, I, I love you Weiss."

Weiss looked away, and Ruby felt the fire start to go out. But then Weiss turned back with a huge smile on her face.

"I love you too Ruby." Weiss replied as she pulled Ruby into a kiss.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>Oh the fun of writing action sequences, this chapter took FOREVER to write because I kept trying to make the fight scenes longer. Oh well, guess you can't be good at writing everything, or in my case, anything. On another subject, keep your eyes out for some new characters, you don't know when they might drop in on the story. Thank you to everyone for reading and sticking through the way-too-short fights. As always, constructive criticism is always appreciated and don't forget to follow, favorite, and review if you liked it! Enjoy the Super Bowl today, GO SEAHAWKS! Chas1881**


	8. Chapter 8: Vayla

**Chapter 8: Vayla**

"ROAR!"

"Whoa!" Sun leapt out of the way as the Beowulf jumped out from behind a tree.

Sun stared down the Beowulf, before jumping high into the air as he sensed the prescense of another one swiping at him from behind. As he landed, he pulled out his staff and swung it at the first one.

The strike landed perfectly on its head and it went down. But by this time the other Beowulf was already swinging. The blow caught Sun on the back and he was sent sprawling.

As he got up, he looked down at his hands and realized his weapon was not in them. He looked around, searching the clearing before spotting it on the ground by a black bush.

'That's strange,' Sun thought to himself. 'What is a black bush doing here?'

Sun didn't have time to ponder the issue as he heard the first Beowulf start to run at him. He retrieved his weapon and turned to face the onrushing creature, but he felt as his legs were taken out from under him.

Sun got a good look at the third Beowulf as it rose up and towered above him.

It brought its paws to the ground in a blow that would have crushed Sun, if he hadn't already rolled out of the way.

Sun was fed up with the monsters, so he jumped on the back of one and dangled his tail in front of it. The monster looked at it and tried to chase it, essentially giving full control of its body to Sun.

He directed the Beowulf straight at its companion and the two crashed into each other. Sun leapt off and took them both out in one fell swoop.

As he started to walk off, he noticed something in the Beowulf's mouth. He turned around and looked at what it was. It was a tuft of golden fur, and there was only one place that could have come from.

Sun looked at his tail and groaned when he saw the pink patch where his fur used to be.

"Stupid monsters." He spit vehemently as he stalked away.

He never noticed the pair of bright green eyes following him from the trees. Nor did he see the black flag the owner had strung over its back.

* * *

><p>"BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!"<p>

"What do you want Yang?"

"I'm bored."

"Of course you are."

"Let's DO something."

"Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know. Do you want to-"

"No Yang, not that, let's go to a concert instead."

"But, I wanna do-" Yang stopped as Blake jabbed her in the side. "Okay, concert was up there too."

"I'm glad you agree."

"So will it be just us?"

"I don't know, do you want anyone else there?"

"Well, how about Ruby and Weiss? They seem to have gotten a lot closer recently." Yang said with a slight smirk.

"Anyone else?"

"Why? Do you already have a number in mind?"

"I might."

"Alright then, who are we going to go see?"

"Wanna take a guess?"

"Uh," Yang was obviously thinking hard. "Styx?"

"Nope."

"Boston?"

"Are either of those still doing concerts?"

"Not sure, Heart?"

"No."

"Just tell me."

"I'll give you a hint, Jack."

"Tenacious D?"

"Alas, no, any others you can think of?"

"No."

"It's Ruby's favorite, and yours."

"Oh! The Achieve Men!"

"Finally, you got it right."

"It's not my fault you suck at giving hints."

"But it is your fault that you didn't get it in the first place."

"How would I have known?"

Blake pointed to the Achieve Men poster. As Yang looked closer, she saw nine tickets taped randomly to it.

"So you're planned on taking everyone?"

"Yeah, I thought they might enjoy some time off."

"Who is the ninth one for?"

"You should know."

"Velvet?"

"No, just in our two teams."

"But we have only eight."

"Yang, think about it, who's the only one not here right now?"

"Uhhhhhhh, SUN!" Yang yelled triumphantly.

"Yes, Sun. I'm glad you finally put two and two together and didn't get twelve."

"Alright, well when are we going? Sun won't be back for at least a couple of hours."

"The Achieve Men are playing at seven so we should have enough time."

"Oh boy, this is going to be so exciting. What should I wear?"

"Do you still have your Achieve shirt?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Which one do you have, and for that matter, Ruby too?"

"I have the Gavin one and Ruby has the Jack and Ryan ones… I think."

"Perfect, does Weiss have one?"

"I don't think so, but where are you going with this?"

"Oh, you'll see."

* * *

><p>Sun had been wandering around the forest for about two hours, and boy was he mad.<p>

"What is this? How can I have been here for this long and still only found two?" He yelled at the sky. "This is terrible! The last two are hidden somewhere where I can't find them!"

In the middle of his yelling, he heard a voice from inside his head.

'Sun, stop, enough, even Gavin is starting to sound like a better person to hang out with.'

"Who are you?"

'I'm Michael, your conciense. Now, stop yelling before you Rage Quit, that's my job.'

"Well, do you have any suggestions?"

'Try that hill over there. If you actually looked around, you would've seen the yellow on top of it.'

"Thanks Michael, for the bullying, and help."

And with that, Sun ran to the top of the hill and grabbed the third flag.

As he stood there triumphantly, he heard 'Michael' give him a warning. He spun around and was attacked by… a girl, there was no other way to describe the small thing assaulting him.

When he got over his shock, the girl lashed out and hit him hard. Sun felt the air go out of him and he knew he was not just fighting any girl.

"Who are you?" He croaked out.

"I am Vayla, a member of the White Fang. Who are you, little innocent?" The girl replied.

"You don't seem to be in the situation to call me little."

"Is that so?" She was suddenly there attacking him again, with Sun barely having time to use his staff to block the barrage of hits coming at him from all angles.

It was when she finally stepped back to catch her breath that Sun saw the black flag she had slung over her back.

"I have no qualm with you," He said. "Just give me the flag and I will go."

"I don't think that's happen- Oof," She started back, before being hit with Sun's staff over the head.

She slumped to the ground, and Sun grabbed the flag before walking off towards the cliffs.

He still didn't see the green eyes watching him from the trees. Nor did he see 'Vayla' disappear in a wisp of purple smoke.

"I've got my eye on you." The small figure said from her hiding place, as she watched Sun walk back home.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>Man, lot's of stuff happening in this chapter: The White Fang, New Character, Achieve Men, a little thing I call "Michael", **and this is only the beginning. For the bands that Yang suggested they were going to go see, I just picked out a bunch of my favorite bands and made Yang like them too. Don't judge me about it. Oh, and I can't forget all of the Achievement Hunter and Rooster Teeth references. Most people could probably figure it out by now, but I am a regular watcher of every show, and it's always fun to incorporate some of their stuff here. This story is really becoming a joy to write, with some of the best parts and new characters about to show up. Sorry again about the action scenes, they still aren't my specialty. In case you haven't noticed, I updated my profile with a short bio that might become bigger as time goes on and you guys ask me questions in PM. Thank you all very much for reading, and don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881****


	9. Chapter 9: New Friends and Concerts

**Chapter 9: New Friends and Concerts**

Sun opened the door to his room to find Ruby bouncing off the walls, literally.

"Calm down, sis, it's just a concert." Yang said, head moving to keep pace with her hyper sister.

"No, it's not, it's a concert by the Achieve Men!" The sister in question replied, voice fluctuating as she moved about.

Nobody seemed to notice Sun standing in the doorway, looking on with an amused expression on his face.

"It is pretty cool." Blake broke in.

"Pretty cool?" Ruby looked mortified. "They are amazing! Which shirt should I put on?"

"Blake said to put on your Achieve shirt." Yang suggested.

"Which one? I have several."

"Can you wear the Jack one? And give the Ryan to Weiss?"

"I guess."

It was at this point that Sun cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of all the ladies in the room.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Yang said. "We didn't see you walk in."

"How did it go?" Blake walked over to Sun, not noticing her partner tense up.

"I did fine, some random chick attacked me though."

"What was she like? Was she any good?" Ruby asked.

"She was just a child, twelve at most, I was able to take her down easily."

"Twelve?" Blake's head shot up at this.

"Yes, at most."

"Did she say anything about her?"

"Yeah, she's a member of the White Fang. Do you know her?"

Blake's face turned deathly white and she sat down before replying.

"Yes, I do."

"She gave a name as well, Voila or something."

"Was it Vayla?"

"Yeah."

"This is not good, but she doesn't seem to know about my whereabouts yet. I should be safe for tonight."

Weiss, who had been sitting quietly on her bed so far, stood up and walked over to the group.

"Whatever it is, we can't let this ruin our night out."

"By the way, what are you guys talking about?" Sun asked.

"Oh, sorry, we are going to see an Achieve Men concert tonight. We have tickets for everyone, including you and Team JNPR." Blake responded with a sly smile.

Sun started as he felt his conciense, Michael, start yelling excitedly in his mind.

"Sun, are you okay?" Blake asked concernedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Do you want to go? We would have to buy you a suitable shirt though."

"Yeah, I'll go, have you told Team JNPR yet?"

The other team in question took that perfect opportunity to barge in the door, all wearing appropriate shirts for the occasion. Nora was wearing a "Team Lads" shirt while Ren was wearing the "Team Gents" one. They offset perfectly with one another. Ironically, Jaune had ended up with the "Fake AH Crew" shirt, while Pyrrha wore the more heroic "X-Ray and Vav" one.

"OF COURSE WE DO!" Nora screamed as she careened into the room.

"Uh, Nora?" Ren started.

"Yes Ren?" Nora appeared behind his shoulder and he turned to speak to her.

"That answer has nothing to do with what they just asked."

"It's not?" Nora looked crestfallen.

"No, Sun asked if they had told us yet. What were you responding to?"

"I was responding to 'Do you want to go?'"

"Nora, that was three questions before. But it's a small matter," He elaborated as Nora gave him an uncharacteristically pained look. "Is everybody ready to go?"

"Yep, let's first go shopping for Sun."

And with that, everybody took off, each eager for the night ahead.

* * *

><p>'That one!' Sun heard Michael yell in his head.<p>

Sun was directed towards the shirt rack, and sifted his hand through the fabric.

'Which one?' Sun asked himself.

'The one right there.!'

Sun grabbed a shirt from the rack and looked it over. It was the Michael shirt.

'Funny.' Sun thought. 'This one has Michael, did my conscience direct me to this one on purpose?'

"Hey Sun!" Yang yelled out, breaking him out of his reverie. "Picked one out yet?"

"Yeah," Sun yelled back. "Just let me pay for this!"

Sun walked up to the register, pulling out a few bills in the process.

"Is that all for you today?" The cashier seemed like a nice lady, and her voice was friendly enough.

'Maya.' He read the nametag on her shirt in his head.

"Yeah, that's it." Sun replied.

"That'll be sixteen ninety-five."

Sun handed over a twenty.

"Excuse me, sir." Sun heard a voice from behind him, and he turned to see who it belonged to.

It turned out to be a pretty blonde, looking up at him from behind cute, hazel eyes. She was wearing a black t-shirt and dark jeans. The t-shirt he recognized, it was another of the many Achieve Men shirts. This one simply had the words "Rage Quit" on it, with two white dashes on the sides.

"What can I help you with?" He asked.

"Well, you see, I am going to the Achieve Men concert today and I'm looking for a group to go with." The girl explained. "I saw your friends outside, and I wanted to go with you guys. You are going, right?"

"Yes we are, and sure, you can come with us." Sun replied, taking his shirt and change from the cashier.

"Sweet!" She said. "My name is Krystal Rain, by the way."

"Sun Wukong."

The two walked outside to where Sun's friends were wating.

"What took you so long?" Yang asked, sounding exasperated.

"I just got held up at the cash register."

"Who's that?" Ruby joined in.

"This is Krystal Rain, she'll be joining us for the concert today."

After everyone had said their hello's, they started walking towards the stage, already hearing the excited crowd screaming about something.

* * *

><p>The group walked up to where their seats were, and they looked down to admire the stadium. They had a beautiful view of everything, Blake had done a great job with the tickets, and they weren't too far away either.<p>

There was a teenage boy already sitting in one of the seats that they had reserved, and he quickly made an apology and moved over to his seat. He then struck up a conversation with Krystal, of all people. He explained that his name was Colton Canius, and that he was the son of the guy who ran Colton's Garage.

The rest of the crew chose their seats, and Sun ended up next to Krystal. The problem was, they didn't have the correct ticket for Krystal, as her's was across the stadium. As Sun started to state this fact, Blake immediately solved the problem by curling up on Yang's lap, surprising everyone with how quickly she had done so.

"I guess that's wasn't so much of an issue after all." Sun said with a smile.

Everyone fell quiet when the opening band started, and Sun recognized the group to be Anberlin.

Sun looked over at his friends, Ruby had her head on Weiss's shoulder, Blake was snuggled up on Yang's lap, Ren was trying to keep Nora in check, Pyrrha and Jaune were awkwardly holding hands, and as he looked to his right, he saw Krystal and Colton, still in deep conversation.

He laid back in his chair, listening to the band go on, content to be somewhere that he could be around his friends.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>This has probably been my favorite chapter to write so far, but it has been topped already by some future chapters. There are some special thanks I would like to ****issue before I continue: First, my two friends Colton and Kyla, you might recognize them from the story (Kyla=Krystal) and they have been a huge help. Colton is my editor and Kyla provides support along the way, I would not be able to write this without them. Second, Rooster Teeth as a whole, they were, after all, the ones who made RWBY. But also, all of the references that I made would not be possible without the company making them first. Along the lines of the shirts, I tried to fit each character's personality (Ex. Sun=Michael). Lastly, I want to thank all of you, the readers, for supporting me through all of this. This story would have stopped on chapter three if everyone hadn't shown so much enthusiasm in views, follows, favorites, and reviews. So again, thank you to everybody, and I hope I can continue to entertain with my new characters being added to the mix. As always, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**


	10. Chapter 10: The Power Of Wait

**Pre-chapter Author's Note:  
><strong>Thank you for one month of support for this story, it means a lot to me. That is the reason I am releasing this chapter the first available minute I can, to thank you all. I originally wanted to try putting all of my followers' names in the AN, but with twenty-five people, I can hardly do that. To every one of you who has followed, favorited, or reviewed ASITD (and you know who you are), thank you for everything, it means a lot when someone can go from nobody to a small somebody with a flick of a switch. And now, Chapter 10 commence.**  
><strong>

**Chapter 10: The Power Of... Wait**

Sun walked through the gateway, eager to get home. As much as he had enjoyed the concert, he was still very tired after his initiation.

Team RWBY and JNPR were walking up ahead, and he stopped and turned to Krystal and Colton.

"So, do you guys have any plans?"

"Yeah, we had both been thinking of attending Beacon." Colton replied with a smile.

"Well, I'm going there right now, how long will you wait?"

"I was thinking of applying in a couple of days." Krystal responded.

"And I have already been accepted." Colton said.

"Hope to see you guys there, we might even be on the same team."

"We would like that."

"See you around!" Sun jogged up to his team, looking back to wave before turning around a corner.

"So what did you get out of them?" Blake asked as he caught up.

"They're both going to attend to Beacon here shortly, so I might actually get on a regular team." Sun replied.

Team RWBY gave him some nasty looks, so he quickly amended the statement.

"Not that you guys are bad, but I should probably get a team to myself."

"It's fine, I see how it is." Yang said haughtily, grabbing Blake and taking her farther away from Sun.

Sun just laughed, and moved to where Team JNPR was walking.

"Hey Sun," Ren said tiredly as Sun moved beside him.

"What's wrong? You seem wiped out."

"It's the stress of being around Nora."

"Is she too hyper for you to keep up?"

"No, it's not that, it's the fact that I really do care about her. You were right when you said that I wanted her to be my girlfriend, but I don't know how to approach her about it."

"Tell her."

Ren gave him an aggrieved look.

"That wouldn't work, I don't want to ruin the perfect friendship we have telling her that."

"I don't know then, I wish I could help."

"Thanks anyway, Sun."

* * *

><p>Krystal and Colton walked side by side. Since the moment they had met, each had known that they had found someone they could be themselves around.<p>

"So, what did you think of the two teams from Beacon?" Colton asked.

"I really liked them, they were nice to me on the way to the concert." Krystal replied thoughtfully.

"Anyone stand out to you?" Colton thought he already knew the answer.

"Sun."

"Same here, he seems like he didn't fit in with the rest of them."

"Great leader though, I kinda hope we get on is team."

"Yeah, hey, where are we going?"

"I don't know, I was just following you."

"Well, do you want to get something to eat?"

"Sure, where should we go?"

"Do you like mexican?"

"Yes."

"Want to go to Serrano?"

"Fine with me, let's go."

On the way there, Colton tripped and fell to the ground.

"Nice one." Krystal said sarcastically.

"Quiet, don't bully."

She rolled her eyes as he tried to get up, but took on a look of concern as he didn't get up on his first try.

"Something wrong?"

"Yeah, I think I rolled my ankle."

"Let me try to fix it, hold on."

Krystal walked over to Colton and laid a hand on his ankle. A dark blue haze surrounded her and rushed into the it. She held her hand there until she was sure the process had finished.

"All done." She announced, standing up.

"How did you do that?"

"It's my semblance, I'm able to heal people quicker than they could themselves."

"That's really cool, now I don't have to worry about accidental injury."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Krystal replied with a mischievous grin.

Colton stole a look to see if she was serious, and found no comfort there.

"Come on, let's hurry." Krystal turned and started walking the wrong way.

"Uh, Krystal?" Colton said as he stood up.

"Yes?" She turned and caught his eye.

"It's this way." Colton started walking in the correct direction.

"I knew that."

* * *

><p>Sun woke and sat up, looking across the room at Ruby and Weiss. They weren't to the point of sharing a bed, not like Blake and Yang, but they were now sitting on Weiss's bed.<p>

He squinted at them, trying to throw off the last tendrils of sleep. They seemed to be very happy, in fact, they were laughing.

As he thought this, he felt his bed begin to rumble. The books holding his bed up collapsed, leaving Sun sprawled out on the ground. His bed was lying on its side next to him.

Laughter could be heard around the room, none louder than Yang.

"What was that?" Sun roared as he leaped up.

Yang was stunned for a second, before bursting out laughing again.

"You should see the look on your face." She said between laughs.

"Ugh, I'm going outside." Sun replied.

He grabbed a shirt and pulled it on before storming out the door.

"Well, that was a thing." Blake said from her bed, now partially covered by the fallen bed. "You should have told me you were doing that."

"Nah, I don't need to, you love me no matter what."

"Don't remind me." Blake stood up, rolling her eyes, and walked over to her closet.

"Watcha wearing?"

"Come into the bathroom so I can show you."

Ruby watched the two go, then turned to Weiss and smiled.

"Interesting morning." She said.

"Probably forshadowing an interesting day." Weiss replied, smiling back.

"Let's get ready, while Blake and Yang are messing around in the bathroom." Ruby said as she stood up, starting to walk towards her own closet.

"Who knows what's going on in there." Weiss cast a look at the bathroom door. "I just hope it's not too bad."

* * *

><p>"Did you hear that?" Jaune asked, looking over at Pyrrha with a fearful expression.<p>

"It sounded like a door slamming." She replied.

"What could it be?"

"Any number of things: Human, Grimm, Ghost."

Jaune's eyes widened as he heard the third possibility.

Finally, they heard the sound of yelling and Jaune calmed down, reassured that there was not a ghost.

"What's wrong?" Pyrrha asked in a voice twinged with contempt. "Were you scared?"

"No, were you scared?"

"Jaune, I'm not usually scared."

"I hate to interrupt you two." Came a voice from across the room. "But can you take your conversation elsewhere?"

"Sure," Pyrrha replied. "Come on Jaune."

Pyrrha dragged Jaune out of the room, and they walked to the library. It was nine in the morning and the library was empty when they arrived there. Or, they thought it was empty.

Sun looked up from his book as he saw the two walk in.

"Hey Pyrrha. Hey Jaune."

"Hello Sun, what are you reading?" Pyrrha asked.

"'Thus Kindly I Scatter.'" Sun replied. "It's by Niteloc."

"Is it good?" Jaune seemed genuinely interested.

"It's great, but only when I'm reading it." Sun said pointedly.

'Please stop reading.' He heard Michael whine in his head.

'No, I'm starting to like reading, shut up.' Sun replied.

"Okay, we'll leave you alone, let's go Jaune." Pyrrha pulled Jaune out of the library, leaving Sun with an annoyed conscience.

A few minutes later, Pyrrha and Jaune were at the point where they were wandering around the halls aimlessly.

"Jaune, there is something I have been meaning to tell you."

"What's that?"

"Well, do you remember back at the concert? When we were holding hands?"

"Yes." Jaune said slowly.

"Well, that was relatively natural, but did you really mean it?"

"Yeah, I guess I did."

"So does that mean?"

"No idea. Do you feel the same?"

"I have to admit, my hand felt really hot during it." Pyrrha went on. "And when we let go, I still had the feeling of your hand on mine."

"So Pyrrha, are you trying to say anything?"

"What I'm trying to say Jaune," Pyrrha took a deep breath and stared at the ground. "Is that I think I'm in love with you."

She heard the light footsteps as Jaune paced away for a second, before coming back and lifting Pyrrha's head up. She found herself staring into those deep blue eyes.

"Pyrrha, it's okay."

They shared a very awkward kiss, but neither one of them wanted to pull out of it. Their need for air was the only thing that stopped them from staying like that forever.

"I love you too Pyrrha." Jaune said as he broke away from the kiss.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>Another fun chapter, they just keep rolling. There are many things I would like to ****say. First, the main reason I included a PyrrhaxJaune scene was because my friend Kyla begged me to do it. Second, you got to see Krystal's semblance, Advanced Healing. Third, I wanted to give a shout out to an author who does not get enough credit for his stories: Leviticus Wilkes. He has created most of his own version of Volume 2 of RWBY, and after I read the first chapter of The Second Step I was hooked. Please take some time to go to his profile and read a bit, he deserves way more appreciation than he is getting. Lastly, thank you to all of the readers out there. If you liked it, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**


	11. Chapter 11: New Kids In School

**Chapter 11: New Kids In School**

"This is the library."

It had been a week since the concert, and Ozpin was giving a campus tour to three new initiates.

"I won't ever see this place again." Colton said with a slight smile.

Ozpin looked back and sighed, he saw the Krystal girl try to hide a giggle.

"What's wrong with books?" That was the Aurora girl. "I find them quite enjoyable."

Colton turned to her and laughed.

"I would rather be perfecting the art of combat, not the art of book."

"Art of book?"

"Yeah, art of book." He frowned. "Don't make fun of me."

Aurora just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever."

Ozpin had been watching with an amused expression on his face.

"Fine children, let's just go to where your new dorm will be."

"Where is it?" Krystal asked. "Is it near Team RWBY's?"

"It's right next to it, Sun requested it that way."

"Who's Sun?" Aurora asked, looking confused.

Ozpin stole a quick glance at her before answering.

"Sun is your new team leader."

"Oh." She took on a thoughtful expression. "When will we see him?"

"In a few minutes, he's waiting in the room."

"Lead the way." Colton said as he bowed and gestured forward to Ozpin.

Ozpin rolled his eyes and, muttering something under his breath about kids these days, set off towards the dorm rooms.

* * *

><p>Sun was lounging at his new desk, still trying to get a feel for his first real room.<p>

'It's amazing,' He thought. 'That I could go from such a poor background to this.'

He swept his arms around and marveled at everything.

'Yeah, it's good to finally be somewhere.' Michael added sarcastically.

Although Sun had gotten Michael to speak only occasionaly, the few outbursts that still happened were usually annoying.

"Knock knock." Came a voice from outside. "Can I come in?"

"Sure." Sun replied.

The door opened to admit Ozpin first, followed quickly by a girl he had never seen before, and finally, Colton and Krystal walked in at a leisurely pace.

"Sun, this is your new team: Aurora, Krystal, and Colton."

"Hey Colton, Krystal. But you said this was Aurora?"

Sun was already looking her up and down. She had dark hair and calm, violet eyes. She wore a loose, purple t-shirt that had the words "Don't even try" on it. There was a grenade belt strapped around her waist, and there were multiple packs of C4 strapped to her back.

"Done looking?" The girl in question asked, seemingly amused at the scrutiny she was getting. "Professor, will I be subjected to this anywhere I go? I don't think I could stand this."

Sun smiled at her, deciding he liked her.

'I like her too.' Michael added, and Sun mentally kicked him to get him to shut up.

"Hey Sun?" Colton started. "Are you going to let us in? Or are you just going to stare at her for a while longer."

For Sun's part, he kept his bravado as he ushered them into the room.

"I guess I'll just go then," Ozpin said. "By the way, your team name is SCAR."

With that, the mysterious professor slipped out of the room.

"So, first thing's first, bedding arrangements." Sun said with a smirk.

"I got this one." Krystal jumped on the bed closest to the bathroom, on the far left edge.

"I guess I'll take the one beside her." Colton sat down on his new dwelling and smiled at Krystal.

"Which one do you want, Aurora?" Sun asked her.

"I'll take the one as far away from those two." She walked over to the other edge and smiled back at Sun. "Guess that leaves you to sleep between Colton and me."

Sun looked at his bed, already thinking that it would be a fun four years.

* * *

><p>"Did you hear the news?"<p>

"What is it Ruby?" One would easily have been able to detect the exasperation in Weiss' voice.

"Sun's teammates just moved in a few minutes ago."

"Really?" The excitement in Yang's voice was evident.

"Yes, do you want to go over there and say hi?"

"YES!" Yang was already walking towards the door.

"Hold on Yang, wait for me." Blake said, getting up off the bed.

"Hurry up."

"Let's go Weiss." Ruby was tugging on Weiss' sleeve, trying to pull her up.

"Fine." Weiss stood up and was promptly dragged to the door.

"Well, let's go!" Yang ran out the door.

Blake waited for a second, and Yang burst back through the door.

"Where is it again?" Yang asked sheepishly.

"It's right next door." Blake replied.

Yang went out again, taking a left. Blake waited, and before too long, Yang poked her head through the door again.

"It's to the right, I was just testing you guys."

Blake rolled her eyes and followed Yang out the door, with Ruby and Weiss tailing behind.

* * *

><p>Sun was sitting on his bed, asking Aurora questions about herself.<p>

"So, what's your last name?"

"It's-" Aurora was rudely interrupted by Yang knocking on the door and inviting herself in.

"Hello!" Yang yelled. "Are you the noobs?"

"Yang," Blake was standing behind her. "Don't make them feel unwelcome."

"Oh, come on, let me have my fun." Yang turned around to hug her girlfriend.

"You two introduce yourselves," Blake said to Ruby and Weiss. "I have a hyperactive lunatic to attend to."

She grabbed Yang and walked out the door.

"Interesting," Sun said, watching them leave. "So Ruby, want to meet the team?"

"Sure, I've already seen Colton and Krystal, but who's the new person?"

"This is Aurora, what is your last name?"

"It's-" Aurora started, before being interrupted for a second time by Colton.

"Hey Ruby, Weiss. What happened to Blake and Yang?"

"Blake had some 'business' to attend to." Weiss replied.

Krystal raised an eyebrow at that, and Colton laughed.

"So, how's life at Beacon?" He asked. "Sun hasn't been able to tell us much."

"Hey, I've only been here for a week!" Sun replied.

"Fine, calm down."

"Beacon is a hard school, but not because of the combat."

"But isn't that all there is?"

"Nope," Weiss responded with a smug look on her face. "Classwork is the hard part."

"WHAT?" Krystal screamed in despair. "WE HAVE CLASSES?"

Everyone winced as their eardrums were destroyed by the high pitched voice that assaulted them.

"Yes, Krystal," Sun replied. "There are classes we have to attend to, and our first one is at nine tomorrow."

"We have to get up early as well?" And as Ruby nodded, Krystal slumped farther into her bed.

"So, you were telling us your last name?" Weiss asked Aurora.

"It's-"

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEY, NEW PEOPLE!" Nora yelled as she kicked the door down.

Ren heard the noise from his room, and quickly ran out the door to investigate. He turned and saw Nora standing in a random team's doorway. He grabbed Nora and dragged her back to the room and, telling her to stay, walked back to the room she had just terrorized.

"Sorry about that," He said, before seeing the room's occupants. "Oh, hey Sun, how's it going?"

"Great, until I nearly lost my ears twice in the space of a minute."

"Well again, sorry."

"It's fine. Thanks for stopping her before she could do more damage. By the way, any luck with her?"

"Not yet." Ren smiled ruefully. "But sometime in the near future, it will happen."

"What are you talking about?" Ruby asked.

"Nothing, see you guys later." Ren started to walk out of the room, before finding Nora waiting in the hallway.

"What are you doing in the near future?" She asked.

"Nothing," Ren replied. "Don't worry about it."

Ren pushed Nora back to the room.

"Well, that was a thing." Colton said.

"Yes, it was." Sun smiled over at him, before turning back to look at Ruby.

Aurora was absentmindedly tossing one of her many grenades in the air and catching it. Weiss caught her doing it and her eyes widened.

"What are you doing?" She yelled. "That's an explosive you're tossing up."

Aurora smiled sweetly at her, and promptly dropped the grenade on the ground. Weiss watched the grenade fall in slow motion, it hit the ground and sat there.

"You realize you have to trigger the explosive before it can blow up, right?" Aurora said as she picked the grenade back up and put it back in her belt.

"I, uh, um." Weiss looked around the room and only found barely-contained-laughter on everyone's faces.

She grabbed Ruby and stormed out, leaving Ruby a space of two seconds to say goodbye.

"Wow, that's three walk-outs in the space of ten minutes," Krystal smiled. "A new record."

"Whatever, so Aurora, your last name?" Sun asked, looking around for anything to interrupt her answer.

"It's-"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>Oh the joy of writing OCs. I don't know why I decided to keep Aurora's name a secret, but it's more fun for me as a writer. I don't even think her last name is too great. Moving on, I would like to thank my friend Kyla again. She helped out in editing this chapter because Colton was too lazy to do so. I hope everybody had a great Valentine's Day on Friday (Solo FTW!). One last thing, I want to give another shout-out to Leviticus Wilkes, another writer on Fan Fiction. He is writing his own version of Volume 2 of RWBY, with more to come after that. His story is more thought out than mine by tenfold, so go check it out. Thank you everybody for reading and if you liked it, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**


	12. Chapter 12: The Bomb

**Chapter 12: The Bomb**

"It's-"

Blake walked in the door gracefully with Yang in tow.

"I brought someone here to apologize."

"Apologize for what?" Sun asked, clearly annoyed that he was apparently destined not to find out Aurora's last name.

"For calling you all 'noobs'."

"I didn't take much offense to that, really." Colton broke in.

"It's a matter of principle: Yang, Queen of Terrible Timing with Loud Noises, needs to apologize to you for a simple matter so she will apologize for something bigger in the future."

"I'm standing right behind you, you know." The person being spoken about said in a low voice to Blake.

"I'm aware." Blake hissed back. "Just tell them you're sorry and we can leave and do what you want to."

Yang's eyes lit up and, without further hesitation, apologized profusely for whatever she had done. For Team SCAR's part, they took the apology gracefully and watched as a relieved Blake led Yang back out of the room.

"I swear, if anybody stops it now.." Sun started under his breath, before speaking much louder. "So Aurora, do I need to ask you the question?"

"No, but as you know, my weapons of choice are explosives, so my name fits in with those. My last name is-"

* * *

><p>"Come on, Yang." Blake was pulling Yang through the hallways, looking for somewhere quiet to go.<p>

"Where are we going?"

"Anywhere we can be alone."

"Any ideas yet?"

"Nope, you got any?" Blake turned and smiled at her partner as she said it.

"Not at all." Yang smiled back.

They passed an open closet door and Blake stopped to look inside. The room was not very big, only slightly larger than a bathtub, but Blake stepped inside, pulling Yang in with her.

"Perfect." Blake said under her breath.

"And how is this perfect?" Yang asked as she pushed aside a mop.

"It's out of the way and, most importantly, it's never used."

"How do you know that?" Yang was aware of the warm body pressed up against her in the confined space.

"Did you not see the signs of disuse?"

"Uhh, what does that mean?"

Blake sighed and put her mouth to her partner's ear before speaking again.

"Just take my word for it and let's enjoy ourselves." Blake pulled her girlfriend into a deep and satisfying kiss.

"Oh don't worry, I will." Yang said as she broke the kiss, gazing into the beautiful amber orbs of her partner.

* * *

><p>"Were you spying on me?" Ren asked a bouncy Nora.<p>

"Nooooooooooooo." She drew it out long enough for Ren to realize she was lying, even though all he had to do was look at her aura to figure that out.

"Are you lying?"

"Maybe," She looked down at the floor, looking uncomfortable. "But I was interested in what you would say."

"Well you shouldn't go around spying on people."

"What did you mean when you said that you hadn't made any progress on 'her'?"

Ren looked away and out the window before answering, knowing he would have to tell her.

"Look, Nora, you know that we have been friends forever."

"Yes, FOREVER!"

"Well, I was thinking of taking that a bit, ah, further."

"What do you mean?"

"Um, what I'm trying to say is, I-"

The door was opened and Jaune walked in, looking very exhausted. Pyrrha walked in after him, looking only slightly more worse for wear.

"Another training session?" Nora asked excitedly, the conversation she had been having seconds ago already forgotten.

"Yes, I think we got a lot accomplished as well." Pyrrha smiled at her partner and boyfriend, who smiled back painfully.

"Easy for you to say." He said, sitting down on his bed.

"One sec guys, can I ask Nora something?" Ren cut in.

Pyrrha nodded and, as Nora turned with an expectant expression on her face, he began.

"Nora, you know how much you like the amusement park?"

"YES!"

Ren winced and continued.

"Do you want to go there Saturday?"

"YES, I WOULD LOVE TO!" She jumped around the room.

Ren stole a glance at Pyrrha and, when he got an approving nod, knew he had made the right decision.

Nora pranced her way to the bathroom to get changed for bed, and Pyrrha came to sit by Ren.

"Finally making a move?" She asked in that graceful tone of her's.

"It's now or never."

* * *

><p>"My last name is Hirosaki." Aurora said.<p>

"Interesting last name." Sun said thoughtfully.

"Where have I heard that before?" Krystal asked.

"Yeah, it sounds familiar." Colton added.

"There's a reason for that," Aurora started with a sad grin. "It was during one of the battles against the Grimm, the final battle for a long time, and the Huntsmen and Huntresses weren't winning. There were technicians on the battlefield, rapidly working to find a weapon that would win the battle, and eventually the war, for the Hunters. As the battle raged on, with people and monsters dying everywhere, they finally came up with a solution. The Schnee Company had recently found two massive veins of highly explosive dust, more volatile than usual, and had shipped it to the front lines."

She stopped for a second and shuttered.

"You don't have to keep going, you know." Sun said in a soft voice.

"Yes, I do," She replied, and continued the story. "The technicians had been hard at work for two weeks, and all that time finally paid off. They had constructed a massive bomb, named after two of the project's leading scientists. The call was made to detonate the bomb then and there, even though there were still Huntsmen and Huntresses fighting. There was a shout of protest from among the ranks, and there was outcry from the public, but the government was ruthless. They wanted to see the Grimm destroyed, no matter the cost. So the bomb was detonated and, when an investigation was launched a week later, there was found to be a lone survivor among the wreckage. The survivor was a two month old girl, lying in the ashes of the technician tent and wailing uncontrollably. That girl, was me."

Aurora started sobbing, just like she had years ago on the battlefield. Sun moved over to her, hugging her and letting her cry into his shoulder. He started murmuring reassuring words to her, trying to get her to calm down.

After a minute of this, Colton quietly stood up and, getting the go-ahead from Sun, led Krystal out of the room.

Before too long, the tears dried out, and Sun was left to deal with the wreck he was holding alone.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered.

"It's okay," Aurora responded, making coherent words for the first time in minutes. "It wasn't your fault, it was my parent's."

"Why them?" Sun asked, already knowing the answer.

"They were the two technicians that made the bomb."

"How did you survive?"

"My semblance is the resistivity to high explosives, that's why I use them."

"Even though-" Sun couldn't finish, thinking she had already been through too much.

"Yes," She replied, apparently not afraid of answering. "Even though it was the thing that killed my parents. It's funny, my family has always had a penchant for explosions."

She said the last part with a rueful grin, before breaking down and crying on Sun's shoulder again.

The only thing that could be heard for a while that night was the sobbing of a girl who had nothing left.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>Soooooo, I had trouble writing this chapter at the time. I can honestly say tears were welling in my eyes while thinking up the plot of the final section. Call me a wimp, but if someone you created goes through this much agony, you would break down too. On other news, if I offended anybody with Aurora's last name, I'm sorry. I wanted to find a name that fit in with her explosive ability, and Hirosaki fit. For any who don't know, (All three of you), Hirosaki is a reference to the two atomic bombs that the US dropped on Japan at the end of World War II. The two cities hit were Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and I am deeply sorry if I offended anyone with this reference. I would like to give another shoutout to Leviticus Wilkes, and I am sure you are mildly fed up by now. But I truly think that his Second Step story is well worth a read, if you like mine, you will like his more. I would like to thank everybody for reading, and don't forget to follow, favorite, and review if you liked it. Chas1881**


	13. Chapter 13: Classes

**Chapter 13: Classes**

"This is so boring." Krystal muttered under her breath.

"Just get through it." Colton hissed back at her.

They were in their first day of classes, and Professor Port's class was on the wish-you-didn't-have-to-but-still-have-to list for today.

"But I want to go do something fun."

Colton rolled his eyes, and decided to drop the subject.

Professor Port was telling a story up front. As Colton started to listen for the first time in a while, he was just in time to see the professor finish and bow before everyone.

"And that is the story of how I defeated the fierce baby ursa." Port said, looking around the classroom as he did.

Obviously he didn't look hard enough, or the smile plastered on his face would have been erased when he saw the laughter in everyone's eyes. Luckily for the class, he seemed only interested in seeing if every student was awake. Even then he didn't look hard enough, for there were multiple students scattered around the room snoring.

"Thank you for listening, don't forget to read pages seven hundred to eight hundred in the book tonight, and remember, stay vigilant."

"YES!" Krystal was already out of the room by the time he finished "vigilant".

Colton slowly followed her out the door, chuckling as he did so. He turned to go to the next class before being stopped by Krystal.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"To history, I think it says here." He rummaged around for his scroll and, finding it, brought up the schedule for today.

"Yes, here it is," He cleared his throat and continued. "Grimm studies with Professor Port, check, history with Professor Oobleck in ten minutes, and lastly we have combat training with Glynda Goodwitch."

Krystal sighed and started off in the opposite direction Colton had started to go.

"Uh, Krystal?"

"Yes?" She turned to him.

"History is this way." As he said it, he pointed to a map of the Academy beside him.

"I knew that." Krystal said as she struck out in the correct direction.

* * *

><p><strong>In an unknown location, behind closed doors and soundproof walls, a very one-sided conversation was going on.<strong>

"I can't have you go off on your own like that! You'll get yourself killed and, even worse, endanger the organization!"

"I know, sir."

"You will stay in this facility for as long as I tell you!"

"Yes, sir."

"Why would you even think to go off on your own!"

"I, I don't know sir."

"Why you're only twelve, I, I, I can't even," The man paused. "Just get out of my office."

The man waved his hand in dismissal at the girl in front of him and turned his back on her. As the girl walked out, she turned one last time to look at her angry step-father.

"I'm sorry." Vayla muttered as she walked out.

* * *

><p>Aurora walked through the hallway with Sun, going to Combat Training. She had been wandering the halls for a while before he had found her and told her that class was coming up.<p>

"What's this 'Combat Training' class again?" She asked him, more to pass the time than anything.

"We fight against other people, whether it be solo or with varying amounts of teamates."

"Are Colton and Krystal going to be there?"

"Yes, and here we are."

Sun walked in through two massive doors and looked around for a suitable place to sit. He saw Blake and Yang up front, and went to go sit by them.

"Hey guys, you ready to fight?" He asked them, pulling up his fists as he did so.

"Of course we are!" Yang was teeming with excitement.

"Always." Blake replied, calmly sitting on the bench in front of her.

Sun and Aurora sat down beside them, waiting for everyone else to show up.

"Where are Ruby and Weiss?" He asked.

"They went for a small recon mission in the Emerald Forest, they should be back in an hour or so." Blake said.

They had all just started to relax before Colton and Krystal burst in, panting heavily.

"Why is Professor Oobleck's class a mile away?" Krystal yelled to no one in particular. "I feel like I just ran a marathon!"

Colton just smiled at her and directed her to the front where he saw the rest of the team was sitting.

Goodwitch walked up to the microphone when she saw everone assembled throughout the auditorium.

"We will have a partner tournament today, seeing as not every team is fully represented." She looked down at Blake and Yang with a slight frown.

"Why the hate?" Yang asked, unhappy with the scrutiny. "They're on a mission, you sent them."

"So I did, here is the bracket."

The screen above her showed a bracket with eight teams of two represented. Blake and Yang would be fighting Sky Lark and Dove Bronzewing in the first round, while the two SCAR teams would be fighting some randoms.

The two representatives of Team RWBY walked up on stage to face off against the two from Team CRDL.

"Ready Blake?" Yang asked, clearly excited for the battle ahead.

"Do you even need to ask?" Blake replied while pulling Gambol Shroud from her back.

As the timer started counting down from ten, Yang activated her gauntlets and cracked her neck. As it reached zero, Blake shadowed forward and cut at Dove, who leaped back and swung a clumsy blow in the general direction of Blake. It wasn't even in the right area code, and Blake appeared behind him and hit him in the back of the head with the hilt of her weapon.

While all this was happening, Yang was in the middle of another very one-sided battle, but this one in favor of the other team. She had used Ember Celica to propel herself forward straight at Sky. The problem was, she had mistimed her punch and Sky had ducked out of the way. She stumbled forward and quickly found herself flat on her back as Sky put out his leg and tripped her.

Blake looked over and, seeing her girlfriend on the ground, quickly rushed over to help her fallen partner. She threw herself at the man standing over Yang, bringing him to the ground in a tackle Ray Lewis would have been proud of.

Yang, sensing an opportunity to end this battle before it got too out of control, ran to Dove and punched him in the back as he got up. He was sent flying and his Aura meter depleted to the red. Everyone in the auditorium cheered and Goodwitch called the match.

"Ever think about trying out for the NFL?" Yang asked Blake as they both walked off the stage.

Blake just rolled her eyes and sat back down in her seat, content to watch the two random teams duke it out.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>The joy of writing combat... even though I'm pretty sure I am terrible at it. **I wish I could make them longer, but I can never think out a battle in too many words. If anyone has any ideas or help when it comes to writing fight scenes, don't hesitate to leave a review or PM me on the subject. I am always looking for ways to improve my writing, and I hope that the audience can help me with that. **Anyways, another fun chapter to write, with the next one showcasing both pairs of Team SCAR in the tournament. You might even get to see some new characters and weapons. Thank you to everyone reading. If you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**


	14. Chapter 14: The Power Of Two

**Chapter 14: The Power of Two**

Team QUBE had won the match, but that wasn't saying much. Quentin and Ulfric had won over their teamates Barbara and Emily. It had been a very boring match, and most people in the stands seemed eager to see the next battle.

Krystal and Colton walked up on to the stage, each pulling out their respective weapons. Colton pulled out Amber and Ember, two tomahawks each charged with a different element, Amber with electricity and Ember with fire. Krystal unslung Toxid, a bow that had a swirling black and blue texture on it. She pulled back a section of her hoodie to reveal twenty-four arrows, all separated into different compartments based on effect.

Sun looked at the two approvingly, noticing that despite the racket the two had made, they were ready for the battle ahead. He sat back to watch the match, ready to evaluate his teamates' fighting styles.

Krystal had lost the nervousness and whiny attitude that she sometimes put on. Instead, she had turned to Colton to give him a reassuring smile. The recipient returned the gesture and looked back at the opponents when he heard the countdown start.

The timer hit zero, and Krystal brought her bow up and released a barrage of arrows at the two unfortunate enemies. Colton advanced slowly, waiting for the arrows to strike home before sprinting forward at the other team. He quickly slid between one's legs and sliced at the back of his ankles with Amber and Ember. When the retaliatory kick came, he caught it and threw it's owner at the other person.

Through all this, Krystal had been advancing slowly with three arrows ready on the string. When she saw the two go down, she launched another storm that brought both of the enemy's aura to the red.

The whole match had taken a total of twenty seconds, and it was obvious that the new recruits knew what they were doing.

Aurora slapped five with them both on her way up, and Sun congratulated them both on a well thought out match.

"Not really thought." Krystal replied with a smile.

"Yeah, it was more of knowing each other's fighting style and playing off of it." Colton added, before they both bade Sun good luck and returned to their seats.

* * *

><p>"Well that wasn't so hard." Weiss remarked to Ruby, as the two were getting back from their mission.<p>

"Not really, but we didn't even see a single monster." Ruby replied unhappily.

"Is that really a bad thing?"

"I wanted to fight, I was really excited to, but we never got the chance."

"It's fine," Weiss said. "Tell you what, we can go do something today."

"Are you saying a date?" Ruby grinned mischievously.

"Well, um, yes." Weiss looked at her shoes.

Ruby tilted her girlfriend's head up and kissed her.

"I would love to."

And with that, Ruby led the way back to the room.

"Why is it empty?" She asked Weiss.

"I don't know, what classes do they have today?"

"Uh, Port, Oobleck, and Goodwitch."

"Any idea which one they're in now?"

"They would be in Combat Training right now, do you want to go over there?"

"Sure, why not, I wonder what fighting they're doing today."

"I think today was tournament day."

"Well let's go see what's up."

Weiss took Ruby's hand and led her down the halls towards the auditorium. They burst through the doors to see Sun and Aurora on stage getting ready to go, they were fighting two representatives of Team BOLT. The timer above them said there were six seconds before the match started. The two rushed to their seats and sat down just as the clock reached zero and the match began.

* * *

><p>"Go!" Sun yelled as he leapt forward with his staff.<p>

Aurora pulled the pins on four grenades at once and threw them all around Blade and Lance. As they rolled out of the way, Sun tried to follow up with a sweep designed to take their feet from under them.

Blade and Lance were experienced fighters and they jumped over the staff before splitting up, each heading to a different person. Sun found himself trying to defend against Blade's two knives, which were slashing in and out of everywhere at once.

Sun backed up furiously, before using his tail to slap his assailant away. Blade recoiled for a second, and Sun took the opportunity to go on the offensive. Blade had a hard time deflecting all of the powerful blows with his knives, and soon tripped during his measured backpedal. Sun pounced but found himself sprawled out on the ground as his target rolled and flipped back up. Blade reversed his grip on the knives so he would strike with the hilt. He reared up, and just as he started to bring the knives down, he was rocketed across the arena.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Aurora had her own battle going on.<p>

She saw Blade and Lance split up, with Blade turning to fight Sun, and Lance sprinting towards her.

She quickly laid down a claymore in front of her and flipped backward as the explosion went off in Lance's face. She stayed on the attack, throwing C4 on the ground in a circle before landing in the middle.

Lance looked at the circle and smirked.

"You wouldn't blow yourself up like that, would you?" He asked mockingly.

"You could try me." She replied, bringing the detonator into view.

Lance took a small step forward before running when she didn't blow it up. He ran into the circle and started slashing at Aurora with his sword, with her dodging every blow.

Aurora shoved Lance back and stole a quick glance at Sun, who was now on the ground with Blade poised over him. She looked at Lance coming at her and hit the detonator, sending her into the air. She pulled out her signature weapon, a modified SCAR-H that fired explosive ammo, and shot Blade as he started his downstroke.

Blade was sent flying, his aura falling to the red from the single shot. Lance was just sitting a little ways away, trying to recover from the shellshock.

Sun stood up with a curious glance at Aurora, before walking over to her.

"Thank you."

"It was nothing, I owed you."

"What? We have never fought together, how could you owe me?"

"You comforted me back in the room, thank you."

"It was nothing, let's get some rest before tomorrow."

"You got it."

The rest of the tournament was planned for the following day, and the auditorium had cleared out. The only people remaining were Team RWBY, Team SCAR, Blade, and Lance.

"That was a good match." Blade said as he and Lance limped over. "I thought I had you beat before I was sent to the moon."

"You guys were tough, I was saved by Aurora." Sun replied with an easy smile.

"A shame we can't have a rematch, if I knew you could survive those explosions, then I wouldn't have charged you." Lance said to Aurora, who was looking at the two with a pleasant expression.

"I'm sure you would have," She replied. "Your anger was starting to take over for you."

"Yeah, I have a habit of that."

"Well, see you guys around!" Blade turned and started towards the door with Lance.

"They were nice." Yang came over with a sleeping Blake in her arms.

"Yes they were." Sun replied, before looking over and rolling his eyes at Blake. "Did she not wake with the explosions?"

"Nope, although I think she was conscious until a minute ago, she was playing around with me."

"Was not." Came the muffled reply from Blake, who was apparently still not asleep.

"Was too, I could feel you."

"No matter, it was fun."

It was Yang's turn to roll her eyes and she set off towards the door.

"Wait!" Ruby, who had said nothing so far, started to follow them.

"Sis, you might not want to come with us." Yang said over her shoulder.

"Why's that?"

"We both have a significant other to attend to, and I want the room for just us."

Ruby turned back to the group as the doors shut behind Yang.

"She's right about one thing." Ruby said.

"What's that?" Weiss asked.

"I have you to be with for the night." Ruby hugged her girlfriend tight and they set off for town, ready for a long night ahead.

"And so there were four." Colton remarked.

"Not for much longer." Krystal practically dragged Colton out of the room.

"Want some coffee?" Sun asked Aurora as he saw the two go.

"All for it."

"Let's go."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>So this is the first time I have been able to show off the rest of Team SCAR's weapons. Tell me what you think of them in the review section below. This also features six new original characters, and I still have no idea how important they will be in the future. I would like to announce my schedule for the future: I will continue to upload chapters normally until I get to Chapter 19 (The finale) which will be released on Sunday, March 16. I will then proceed to take a one month break from uploading to rest and recuperate. Don't worry, there might be one or two one-shots released during then if I have the time. I will return on Wednesday, April 16, with a new story. This will be the sequel to A Spark In The Darkness and is another story only because it is essentially Volume 2. I would like to thank everybody for your continued support and if you liked it, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**


	15. Chapter 15: Date Night

**Chapter 15: Date Night**

BANG!

"Yang!" Blake yelled, hitting her head on the wall again. "I told you to stop doing that!"

They were in their room, with Yang sitting on the bed with a laser pointer.

"Sorry, it's too much fun." Yang said, before moving the red dot onto the wall again.

"I'm not going after-" Blake's resolve vanished and she ran headlong at the wall for the third time.

BANG!

She turned as Yang turned the wretched thing off and leapt at her to stop any more injury. Yang, taken by surprise, dropped the device as Blake ran into her.

"Woah, hold on there Bwakey."

"No, you've had your fun, now I'll have mine."

Blake proceeded to press her lips harshly against her partner's.

"How good of a hit are we getting tonight?" Yang asked as the kiss broke.

"You know I hate baseball." Blake replied, rolling her eyes.

"I say," Yang paused for dramatic effect. "We go for a home run."

Blake suddenly got up, with her body language suggesting extreme anger.

"What did I do wrong?" Yang stood up.

Blake started walking towards the bathroom, with Yang reaching out to try to pull her back.

"YOU'RE AS COLD AS WEISS!" Yang started screaming at the top of her lungs. "YOU'RE WILLING TO SACRIFICE OUR LOVE!"

Blake paused and, chuckling, turned back and shoved Yang onto the bed.

"I knew that would work." Yang whispered into her partner's ear.

"Shut up and let's start." Blake said seductively.

"Okay, I'm all for it." Yang replied.

"I told you to shut up, didn't I?"

"Yes." Yang replied meekly.

"Well then, heed the warning."

* * *

><p>"Wanna go see a movie?" Ruby asked, clearly excited for the night ahead.<p>

"I don't know, maybe later." Weiss responded, smiling at her girlfriend.

"Well what do you want to do right now?"

"I'm hungry, let's get something to eat."

"Where do you want to go?"

"How about Goeff's Cafe?"

"Sure."

The two walked the short distance to town and quickly entered Goeff's Cafe.

"What would you like to start off with?" A waiter asked after they had taken a seat. "An appetizer maybe?"

"No thank you." Weiss said. "Just a glass of water for me."

"And I'll have a watermelon and lemon slushie."

"Thank you ladies, your refreshments will be out in a minute." The waiter bowed and walked off to prepare the drinks.

"Watermelon and lemon?" Weiss asked with a smile.

"Yes, got a problem?"

"Not at all." Weiss rolled her eyes.

The waiter came back with their drinks and set them down on the table.

"Are you ready to order?" He asked. "Or do you need a few more minutes?"

"Ready?" Weiss asked Ruby.

"Yep, I'll have the ten-piece chicken nuggets."

"And for you, miss?" The waiter turned to Weiss.

"I will take the Caesar Salad."

"Thank you, your food will be out shortly."

As the waiter walked away, Ruby and Weiss fell into companionable silence until their food came. They continued until they had finished, all the way up until the waiter came back with desserts.

"Here they are, brownie with chocolate ice cream?"

"Mine." Ruby raised a hand.

"And apple pie with vanilla ice cream?"

"That would be mine." Weiss responded.

They both dug in, and were nearly finished before they started to slow down.

"Want to try some?" Weiss asked.

"Sure." Ruby leaned over and ate the piece of pie off of the fork.

"Can I have some of yours?"

"Absolutely." Ruby stabbed her last bite of brownie and held it up. "But you have to take it from me."

"What do you mean by that?"

Ruby put the fork in her mouth and leaned across the table. After a moment's hesitation, Weiss put her hand on the table and kissed Ruby, taking the dessert from her partner's mouth.

"Uh, ladies?" The waiter asked.

They broke apart hastily and smiled up at him.

"Yes?" Ruby asked.

"Are you done?" He seemed flustered.

"Yes, we are." Weiss replied.

"Here is your bill, you can pay at the entrance." He walked away quickly, obviously still weirded out by the two girls.

Ruby and Weiss exchanged laughs as they walked up and payed.

"Did you see the look on his face?" Ruby asked.

"It was priceless, ready for that movie now?"

"Which one should we watch?"

"Have you seen Safe Haven?"

"Nope."

"Well, now's your chance."

"What's it about?"

"You'll see."

As Weiss was saying that, she bumped into a little girl. She was small, about twelve, but had a look in her eyes that suggested she should not be messed with.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Weiss exclaimed. "I didn't see you there."

As she was talking, some vague memory danced in her mind. Back to the day of her fight with the giant, but she shooed it away.

The girl kept on walking, apparently not hearing her. Weiss shrugged and continued walking with Ruby.

"I've found two of her teamates, and one looks very familiar." The girl started talking into a communications device on her wrist, she listened for a second then responded.

"No sign of her yet, but I will find her."

With that, Vayla stealthily started following the two girls.

* * *

><p>Sun and Aurora met up with Colton and Krystal in the hall. Evidently, the two had not gone far.<p>

"Man, you made it a total of four feet out the door." Sun remarked.

"Shut up, we were waiting for you two." Colton replied with a grin.

"And we have nowhere to go, do you guys have any plans?" Krystal asked.

"We were going to Sundollars." Aurora cut in.

"Can we go? We have nothing better to do."

"Sure, why don't we go now?" Sun started towards the exit, with his friends in tow.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>I was so happy to be able to include two jokes I have been saving for a long time. The laser pointer and the "Cold as Weiss" song. The idea for the laser pointer scene came from Arryn Zech and Barbara Dunkelman talking about it on the RT Ladies Podcast. The idea for "Cold as Weiss" arose while I was writing the first chapter, I was listening to "Cold as Ice" by Foreigner and decided to include my own version at some point. Make fun of me if you must, but I was excited to include these. Shorter chapter today, I wish I could think of something else to fill it. If you didn't catch it last time, I will post 19 chapters and then take a month break. I will come back after that month and start a new story, a sequel to ASITD. For a more in-depth version of my schedule, check out my profile, it is posted there. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**


	16. Chapter 16: Sundollars

**Chapter 16: Sundollars**

"I told you it would be good." Weiss said to Ruby as they walked out of the movie theater.

"It was alright, although I prefer action movies." Ruby replied.

"It was great, now let's go home."

They started off towards Beacon. As they were passing the ice cream parlor, Ruby rushed in and, two minutes later, returned with vanilla ice cream for them both.

"Here you go!" Ruby exclaimed cheerfully as she handed Weiss the cone.

"Thank you." Weiss turned around and saw a shadow move into an alleyway.

She squinted in the direction she had seen it and shrugged, partially convinced that it had been a trick of the light. They walked past that spot and Weiss took another brief look into it, but it was dark.

They continued on towards home, and they soon stumbled across Sun and the rest of his team at the local Sundollars.

"Hey guys!" Krystal called through a mouth full of cheesecake. "Wanna join us?"

Ruby and Weiss exchanged a knowing look and Weiss replied.

"No, we need to get home."

"Suit yourself!" Krystal reclined back in her chair as the two moved on.

Sun looked back the way Ruby and Weiss had come and saw a small shape. As he watched, the shape tried to duck behind a street light. The attempt was in vain, as Sun had seen enough to match the figure to a memory.

"We need to leave," Sun stood up abruptly and, as everyone stayed where they were, he added. "Now."

"But-" Krystal's question was cut short as Colton suddenly shot his head up and looked right at the lamp post the figure was hiding behind.

"Someone was following you." He said as he stood up himself.

Sun motioned for everyone to quiet for a second while he concentrated. He felt as his aura slowly moved out in a spherical pattern around his body. He suddenly could see all around him, he saw the incredulous looks on his friends faces and, most importantly, saw the tiny girl who had been trying to hide.

"Vayla, I can see you." He called out as he snapped his eyes open.

"How did you do that?" Krystal asked as Vayla showed herself.

"How dare you!" Vayla screamed as she rushed at Sun.

Krystal overcame her shock and nocked an arrow to the string on Toxid, seeming to take no time to aim before letting the arrow fly. As the arrow struck, the girl vanished into purple smoke.

"Ha!" Came a squeal from their left, it turned out to be Vayla. "You cannot touch me!"

Krystal turned and shot this one as well, but it again disappeared into a wisp of purple smoke.

"How the?" Krystal asked, starting to get really annoyed with the child.

"You tell me!" Vayla appeared behind her and grabbed an arrow from her quiver.

Vayla threw the arrow on the ground, the tip struck and blue smoke billowed out.

"Goodbye, innocents!" Vayla screamed as the smoke enveloped her.

Everyone started coughing, and they had tears in their eyes.

"She used my only tear gas arrow!" Krystal whined indignantly as the smoke dissipated, eyes still streaming.

"That explains everything." Sun said thoughtfully.

"How?" Colton asked.

"I though that there was something weird with the way she thought she had the advantage back in the woods."

"How is that?" Aurora joined the conversation.

"I was easily able to beat her, but it was as if she didn't care if I did. Now I understand."

"Can we talk about this back home?" Colton asked.

"Fine, let's get back." Krystal started marching off towards the ice cream parlor.

Colton waited for a while before calling after her.

"Krystal?"

"Right, this way." She turned at a ninety degree angle and started walking.

"Krystal? Beacon is this way."

Colton facepalmed as she started back towards them, only following her once she had passed by them.

"Happen much?" Sun asked with an amused smile on his face.

"You don't want to know." He replied, smiling forwards at Krystal.

She veered to the right and he sighed, increasing his pace so he could put her back on the right track.

Sun looked at Aurora and they both burst out laughing.

Krystal looked back at the two and frowned.

"I'm not stupid, I'm directionally challenged."

This, of course, brought on another wave of laughter. This one included everybody but Krystal, until she gave in and laughed with them.

* * *

><p>Sun was the last one in the door, and he was immediately interrogated.<p>

"So Sun, is there something you aren't telling us about?" Krystal asked casually as he came in.

Sun had the grace to look guilty, and sat down on his bed before answering.

"I would assume you mean how I knew Vayla was behind the pole? That would be my Semblance."

"But what exactly is it?" Colton asked.

"It's called Sensor, I am able to use sonar to 'see' in a spherical pattern."

"I've never seen you use it before."

"That's because I only use it in emergencies, it drains a lot of my aura to use it."

"That's really cool!" Krystal broke in.

"I guess so, but we should learn everybodies abilities if we're going to be working together."

"I'll start," Aurora smiled and pulled her SCAR-H from behind her back. "Meet Scandiv, a customised SCAR-H that shoots explosive rounds. I have a grenade belt and multiple packs of C4 that I carry into battle. My Semblance is resistance to explosions."

"Me next!" Krystal leaped up and unslung her bow. "My bow is called Toxid! It can shoot any type of arrow that I want. It can also turn into a deadly sniper rifle. And speaking of arrows, here is my quiver, it can hold up to a dozen arrows and there are many types. Fire, water, lightning, explosive, tear gas. These can also transform into specialized bullets for when I use Toxid in sniper rifle mode. Finally, my Semblance is Recovery, I am able to heal people a lot faster than they would themselves."

"I guess I'm next," Colton pulled his tomahawks from their holsters. "This is Amber, it is infused with electricity, and this is Ember, infused with fire. My Semblance is Infrared, I can see heat signatures, even through walls."

"Alright then, Sun?"

"Okay, as you know, I have this staff." He pulled it out. "It can turn into a shotgun-nunchuck form. I am a faunus, proven by my tail. And, as I explained earlier, my Semblance is Sensor. Is anyone else a faunus?"

Sun was looking sideways at Colton, he saw Colton start and looked full on at him.

"It's okay, I'm proud of mine." Sun elaborated.

"Well," Colton gulped nervously. "I'm a wolf faunus."

Krystal fell off of her bed in shock, she climbed back up and let her jaw drop at him.

"Really? Where do you show it?" She asked.

Colton pulled off the toboggan he wore on his head, below it was a pair of wolf ears.

"Woah." Krystal reached over and put her hand on one of them.

Sun and Aurora looked on knowingly, having already guessed something along these lines at Sundollars.

"I was afraid to show them immediately." Colton said, looking up at them.

"Well, the only thing you have to worry about now is Krystal." Sun looked meaningfully at the girl still playing with Colton's ears.

"Yes, that's enough Krystal." Colton put his toboggan back on and stood up.

"Awww." Krystal got up as well, and went to sit on her bed.

"I can also smell and hear better than most, I guess that's another perk to being part wolf."

"So is that why you were able to sense Vayla behind the pole?" Krystal asked.

"Yes, I saw her heat signature, plus I could smell her from miles away."

As he was saying it, he perked his head up and looked straight at the door.

'Trouble.' Sun heard Michael say in his head.

The door burst open and admitted Ren.

"Sun, we have a problem."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>So I decided to use this chapter as a kind of OC guide. I wanted to have everything out in the open for at least the three main OCs. Things are starting to pick up in this chapter as well, and I love leaving you guys on cliffhangers. Sorry, but it's a lot of fun. Again, check my profile for information on my update schedule and the month break I am taking. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed it, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**


	17. Chapter 17: Madyln

**Chapter 17: Madyln**

Snow, it was everywhere, but here the vast whiteness was saturated with blood. There had been a massacre here, the bodies of over a hundred beowolves lay scattered around a field. The only hint as to what happened being the many spent shells lying on the ground everywhere.

As the police looked upon the scene, one person was slipping away. If someone were to look in this person's direction, they would have seen a girl in a red hood walking away from the premise. They would have called her back, to question her about what had happened. But that could only be done if they had seen Ruby quietly escaping the battlefield.

* * *

><p><strong>Same day, different location.<strong>

"And police say that the giant attacked The White Castle in the middle of one of Weiss Schnee's performance." A news reporter was standing just outside the building where the fight had happened. "And I have just received word that there was one person killed, with another injured."

Everyone turned to see the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company walk out of the building. The reporter turned and pulled Weiss over for questioning.

"What happened in there?" She asked.

"My sister died." The clearly distraught Weiss stormed off, leaving everyone behind as she stalked away from The White Castle.

"There you have it folks," The reporter turned back to the camera. "A very unhappy girl, who has reduced the giant that took her sister to pieces. Back to you Levi."

* * *

><p><strong>Present day, exactly two years after the previous events, twenty minutes before the incident at Sundollars.<strong>

"STOP IT!" Ruby screamed at the two bickering girls.

Blake and Weiss were shocked into silence, they had never heard Ruby yell like that before.

"Calm down, sis." Yang walked over and laid a hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Why won't they stop?" Ruby started crying into her sister, letting the tears soak into Yang's clothes.

"I don't know," Yang shot a deadly look at both her girlfriend and her sister's. "Just calm down, let's go somewhere quiet."

And with that, she led Ruby out of the room, shooting another acidic glance at Blake and Weiss.

As soon as the door shut, Weiss was already on the attack.

"Why do you put those innocent children through all that at such a young age? It's inhumane!"

"I agree, I left them for a reason, you know."

"But the fact that you were with them in the first place speaks volumes about how you were raised!"

"I didn't know any better!"

"That's exactly my point, the White Fang is desensitizing infants and toddlers to ruthless violence."

"Again, I agree with you, but you need to knock off this prissy stuff. The real world hits you in a way you never saw coming, a left hook to the jaw that comes out of nowhere. Until you see real hatred and bloodshed, don't try to act like you understand all this."

"I have seen bloodshed," Weiss said with a quiet voice. "I've told you before, _you're_ organization was at war with my family for years."

"You say our system is bad, but have you not looked inside your own walls? How is what the White Fang is doing any worse than what your family is subjecting the infant faunus to now?"

"Because we don't use children at the age of twelve to do kill people! The White Fang is taking children who should be learning how to walk and training them to be cold-blooded killers."

"Answer me for real, how is your family better? Look at you, you have been subjected to ridicule from your parents since you were born."

Weiss looked sadly at the ground before answering.

"But we mine using faunus, not humans."

"How dare you suggest we are less important!"

"I didn't mean..."

"Of course you didn't! You never do! But the way you treat my kind is a disgrace. Why do you think you know what's best for us? It's not like you're one of us." Blake was spitting out the words in rapid succesion, not giving Weiss much of a chance to reply.

"No, I'm, I'm," Weiss stammered.

"Or is that it then? The reason you think you know what's best for us is that you know you are one." Blake put it out, not thinking it would lead to anything.

"I, I." Weiss continued to be inarticulate, looking down at her feet.

Blake looked at Weiss with total surprise, she hadn't expected the girl to be so flustered with the accusation... unless.

"You are one, you're a faunus." Her voice was filled with barely contained scorn. "After the ways you have treated you're own kind in the past."

Weiss set her jaw and looked up, she continued in a sarcastic voice, deadly calm. "Prove it. Prove I'm a faunus then. But not today, because you know what happened today? My little sister died two years ago, so just let me go mourn the death of my most important person." She paused. "Previously most important person, before your kind swept that joy away."

Weiss was out of the room before she even finished.

Blake sat there looking shocked, she had just forced Weiss into a corner. She should feel excited that she had won, but all she felt was hot shame. She had lost her cool, over something that shouldn't have mattered.

"What have I done?" She whispered to the sky.

The door burst open and admitted Yang and Ruby.

"What happened?" Yang asked, looking around. "Where's Weiss?"

"I, I, I." Blake looked down at her feet and started to cry.

"Ruby, go find Weiss." Ruby was out the door before Yang had finished. "What happened Blake?"

"We continued our argument as soon as you two left," Blake was talking between sobs. "I figured something out about Weiss, something she doesn't want anyone to know about. She left when I figured it out, Yang, I'm so sorry!"

"There, there," Yang was holding Blake now, trying to get her to calm down. "Ruby will find Weiss soon, and everything will be okay."

Oh, if Yang only knew how wrong she was.

* * *

><p>Ruby did not find Weiss in the cafeteria, or the library, or the auditorium, or anywhere. Weiss had basically disappeared off the face of the planet.<p>

"Weiss?" Ruby's concern was escalating every second. "Weiss?"

Ruby started running through the halls, eventually ending up back at their room. She passed Ren, who immediately went to Sun's room after she told him what happened.

"I can't find her." Ruby burst into tears as she walked into the room.

Blake had been starting to calm down, but as she heard Ruby she started bawling again.

"It's okay." Yang said to Blake in a soft voice while rocking her.

"But what about Weiss?" Ruby asked. "Blake was the one who got her to run."

"I don't think she entirely knew what she was doing." Yang replied, looking down at her broken girlfriend. "She certainly seems to be concerned now."

"But what about Weiss?" Ruby persisted.

"We will find her, just as soon as you two clean yourselves up."

Blake stopped crying and looked up in awe at Yang.

'Is she really trying to get us to clean up?' Blake thought. 'With how she goes about on a daily basis?'

She gave one last sob and stood up.

"I'm okay."

"You sure?" Yang got up behind her.

"Ruby," Blake looked at her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that."

"It's fine Blake, I just care about finding her."

"Thank you Ruby, now let's go get her."

* * *

><p>"What's the sitch?" Sun asked, to the confusion of the other people in the room.<p>

"Weiss is missing."

"Really?" Krystal popped her head up and joined the conversation.

"Was it before or after they got back to Beacon?" Colton asked.

"After, or so I would assume." Ren replied. "Let's just go see how Team RWBY plans to deal with it."

Team RWBY, as it turns out, had no other way of dealing with it aside from telling Ozpin. So everyone found themselves on their way to tell the headmaster about Weiss' disappearance.

"So you say you checked everywhere?" Ozpin queried when they told him the whole story, from the meeting with Vayla until present time.

"Pretty much." Ruby replied in a small voice.

Ozpin leaned back in his chair, massaging his temple.

"Well, I can't do much without knowing where she went." When he saw the look of despair on Ruby's face, he hastily continued. "But I will check the security footage and tell my staff to look out for her."

"I guess that's all you can do, thank you sir." Ruby replied.

"If you find anything, please do not hesitate to tell me."

* * *

><p><strong>In an undisclosed location, miles away from any human life.<strong>

"Why have you taken me here?" Weiss cried, looking at the back of the girl in front of her.

"Because I will use you, in a way that I have been used in the past." The girl replied.

"But who are you anyway?"

"Oh, do you not know? I thought you would have been able to tell from the beginning."

"Why? I've never seen you before."

"How about now?" The girl turned and pulled off the balaclava she had been wearing over her face.

"Madyln?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>Wow, longest chapter so far... Until the finale, which will blow this out of the water. So this required a lot of help from a good friend of mine here on Fan Fiction. You might have heard me refer to him before, but he has been a very huge help to this story. This person is Leviticus Wilkes. Without him, this argument would have been ****horrendous, and I owe a good amount of this chapter's polish to his careful scrutiny. So, Chapter 18 will be released on March 12, while Chapter 19 will be released on March 16. Again, full release schedule is shown on my profile, so go check there if you want a more in-depth version. I would like to thank everyone for being so supportive of this story, and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881  
><strong>


	18. Chapter 18: The Calm Before The Storm

**Chapter 18: The Calm Before The Storm**

Weiss couldn't believe it. Her sister had died two years ago, how was she here now?

"Yes, hello Weiss, I am pleased to meet you again." Madyln twisted her mouth into a sneer.

"But, you were killed!" Weiss sputtered. "How are you still alive?"

"So you remember that day well. Let me refresh your memory." And with that, Madyln began. "In the days leading up to your concert at the White Castle, the White Fang kidnapped me. They told me all about their ideals and said that they knew I was half-faunus. So I agreed to join them, and they sent me back home. The day of the concert, I activated one of the robot mechs and proceeded to pretend to be killed by it. But instead of killing me, it brought me into the waiting arms of the White Fang. They accepted me and started my training, and so here I am."

Weiss had been waiting for Madyln to finish her monologue, and used the break to ask something that had been gnawing at her.

"Why did you convert to the wrong side, Madyln?"

"Don't call me that! It's too human for a top notch White Fang agent like me!"

"What do you want to be called then?" Weiss was the prisoner here, and it wasn't smart for a prisoner to aggravate her captors.

"Vayla. If you call me that other wretched name again, I will torture you until you're crying for help."

During this whole time, Weiss had been looking for a way to contact her friends. She saw that Vayla had a walkie talkie, but that wouldn't help her if it was on the wrong frequency.

As if reading her mind, Vayla set a strange device on the table beside her.

"This can alter its frequency to match a specific scroll, and I intend to contact your teammates using it."

"Why would you do that?" Weiss asked.

"Because I am directing them to a different endgame, one where I am in control."

"But what are you trying to do?"

"You wouldn't have heard, would you?"

Weiss shook her head no, so Vayla continued.

"The White Fang has offered a reward for anyone who can find Blake Belladonna and bring her back to justice."

"You want to go after Blake?" Weiss was trying to comprehend the conflicting thoughts flitting through her mind: On one hand, Blake had been the reason she had run in the first place, but on the other, Blake was her teammate, and she couldn't bring herself to willingly give one of those up.

"I do, I intend to grab the ten thousand lien and use it to buy some better equipment for myself."

"You would turn in one of your sister's friends for money?"

"In a heartbeat."

* * *

><p>"Hello?" Vayla's voice was heard through the scroll Yang was holding.<p>

"Got a match!" Yang yelled, looking in wonder at the scroll she was holding in her hands.

"Really?" Ruby rushed over, before being squished against her sister when everyone else followed.

"Yep, see?" Yang held the scroll up for everyone to see, to the radio she said. "Hello? Who is this?"

"You recognize my voice, don't you?"

'Vayla.' Sun heard Michael say in his head.

"It's Vayla, she must have Weiss." He said out loud.

"I am in possession of Weiss, your friend." Vayla said. "Bring me Blake Belladonna and I will let her go free."

"Never, but we will find you." Yang spat the words out.

"Is that so? Well then, you know where I am. Hide and Seek, bitch." The connection was cut and Yang switched to seeker mode.

"I'll go tell Ozpin." Ren was out the door by the time he finished.

"Where is she?" Blake asked, hanging on Yang's shoulder.

"She appears to be," Yang zoomed out the map. "In a warehouse about one hundred and fifty miles from here."

They knew that the scroll could detect wavelengths from around the world, and they often used it to find a match of another scroll. It was a normal way for students to know where the rest of their team was.

"Uh, important question here." Jaune broke in. "But are you using Apple Maps or Google Maps?"

Pyrrha facepalmed and Yang turned her eyes skyward.

"You have got to be kidding me." Sun said.

"Is that really relevant?" Pyrrha asked through her hand.

"Apple Maps can't be trusted!" Jaune replied indignantly.

"Never mind, let's just go to Ozpin's office and see what he wants to do with this information. Stay here." Yang stood up and walked out the door.

* * *

><p>"So Yang should be along soon to show you the loca-" Ren was interrupted by the person in question barging through the door. "Speak of the devil."<p>

"Professor, I've found her." Yang said, laying her scroll on the table. "What do you suggest we do with it?"

Ozpin pushed his glasses down and massaged his temples before picking the scroll up.

"Give me time to think about this, but at the moment I'm thinking of sending out a rescue team. It's obvious that she is heavily guarded."

"Of course, but if I may, who would be on the rescue team?" Blake asked.

"I was thinking two teams of third-year students for the task."

Blake set her jaw, and stepped forward.

"With all due respect sir, I strongly disagree."

"In what way." Ozpin looked at her amusingly.

"I should be on the rescue mission. After all, I was the one who caused this problem."

"Give me time overnight, and I will tell you in the morning. But I will earnestly consider your going."

"Thank you sir."

"Let me message you the location." Yang said.

Suddenly, the sound of a hundred Gavins doing the Ricky Gervais filled the room.

"Nice notification sound." Yang said with a smirk. "I didn't know you liked the Achieve Men."

"Well- You know what, never mind. You don't need to know my life outside of school." Ozpin hastily replied.

"You have one?" Yang asked with mock horror.

"Yes, teachers do exist outside the classroom." Ozpin rolled his eyes. "Now shoo, I have some sleep to grab."

"In all honesty, how much sleep will you be getting tonight?"

"Exactly thirty minutes, you are dismissed."

* * *

><p>"What about the tournament?" Krystal asked as Team SCAR walked into their room.<p>

Sun rolled his eyes and responded.

"I don't think that the tournament is the most important thing happening right now."

"But I want to fight!"

"If Ozpin chooses us to go on the rescue operation, we might get the chance to." Colton added.

"YES!" Krystal unslung Toxid and hugged it.

"Really?" Aurora raised her eyebrows and pulled out Scandiv.

"You're holding your weapon too." Krystal said sarcastically.

"I'm making sure it's okay." Aurora started checking Scandiv over.

"You two are both insane." Colton walked over to his bed. "We should get some sleep."

"Right, we need to be ready for whatever Ozpin throws at us tomorrow."

"Do you think he's going to change his mind and send Team RWBY to save Weiss?" Aurora asked.

"Down one now." Krystal muttered.

"I don't think he would send them alone." Sun replied to Aurora's question.

"You mean he would send other teams with them?" Krystal sat down on her bed.

"Yes, Weiss, Blake, and Yang wouldn't be able to do it on their own."

"You doubt them?"

"It's not that, it's that it might be too dangerous for three people."

"Good point," Colton came in. "But right now, we have to get some sleep."

"Night, night!" Krystal laid down and dozed off.

"Good night, everyone." Aurora followed suit and fell asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>Next Sunday is the big one, over five thousand words. I don't have much else to say except for saying thank you to all of the readers. If you enjoyed it, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**


	19. Chapter 19: The Finale

**Pre-Chapter Author's Note:  
>5,055 words before the AN's and extra things. I would like to thank Leviticus Wilkes for editing this chapter for me, and thank everyone else for reading my story. I would like to apologize in advance, I was alternating between writing this and playing the campaign of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. My mind was thinking along those lines and you will see where that affects it. And now, let the chapter commence.**

**Chapter 19: The Finale**

"I have made my decision."

Ozpin was standing on the auditorium stage, addressing every student in the school.

"As some of you know, Weiss Schnee of Team RWBY has gone missing. I had originally decided to send two teams of third-year students for a rescue operation, but I have since reconsidered. I will send two teams of first-year students and one team of second-year students." Ozpin cleared his throat and pulled out a sticky note. "The three teams are: Team RWBY, Team SCAR, and Team SEAL. I expect Team SEAL to lead the operation and come up with a plan of attack."

"We will, sir." Sandman, the leader of Team SEAL, responded.

"Good, we will send you out in three hours, be ready by then. Everyone is dismissed."

The majority of students started walking out, but Sandman motioned for Teams RWBY and SCAR to come over.

"Alright, we have three hours here, and then it will be a two hour flight by airship." Sandman said to them as they came over. "That means I'll give you guys two hours here to get ready, but from then on we will be strategizing. Got it?"

Upon seeing the nods of approval circulating throughout the group, Sandman dismissed them and turned to talk with his team.

"What if we can't get her?" Ruby asked Yang as they were walking out.

"We will, don't worry." Yang responded with a smile at Ruby.

"Okay." Ruby moved over and hugged Yang. "Thanks sis."

"We have two hours, let's make the most of it." Yang looked over to Blake, who was still taking Weiss' disappearance heavily. "And you need to be cheered up."

Blake smiled at Yang and thanked her for the offer, but said she needed some time to go over her weapons.

"Maybe afterwards." Blake winked at Yang and opened the door to their room.

"Okay."

* * *

><p>"Alright, here is a map of the building." Sandman said as he brought up a 3D image of the warehouse Weiss was being held in. "We only have an exterior view, but we know that this is the place she is in."<p>

They were on the airship, on their way to rescue Weiss. They had all been aquainted with each other's abilities and weapons, and Sandman was sharing the plan he had been formulating for an hour.

"Any questions?" He looked up at the faces all arranged in a semi-circle in front of him. They all shook their heads no and he continued.

"What little information of the inside we do have is that it's only one room, so there will not be any 'breach and clear'. Aside from the first one, of course."

"I have a question," Krystal raised her hand. "What is a 'breach and clear'?"

"It's where you have a team of four or five stack up on a door, they open it by any means necessary, and make sure the room is clear of all hostiles."

"Gotcha."

"Moving on, we will have a two man sniper team consisting of Krystal and Colton of Team SCAR. I want Colton to use the sniper scope to see how many humans are inside. This, of course, will require him to use his semblance. Krystal, after initial reconnaissance, I want you to be in charge of the sniper, with Colton guarding your back."

"You got it." Colton and Krystal replied together.

"Sun and Blake will find an alternate, more stealthy, entrance and use that to enter the building. You two will be the ones to secure the hostage, while the first group has the enemy distracted. Beforehand though, I want Sun to use his Sensor to see how many robotic enemies we may have."

"Understood." Sun and Blake looked at each other and nodded.

"Where does that leave me, Ruby, and Aurora?" Yang asked.

"Aurora will be with us for the first breach, but will hang back at the entrance and make sure nobody tries to come in behind us. You and Ruby will be on relief duty, you two stay on alert and move wherever you are needed. Understand?"

"Yes." Yang turned to Ruby and smiled reassuringly.

"In theory, we should be in and out within two minutes. For further reference, the breach team will be called Team A, Blake and Sun will be Team B, Colton and Krystal are Team C, and Yang and Ruby are Team D. Do not hesitate to use your throat misc to communicate with the rest of us. The ETA is in thirty minutes so take this time to rest and get ready for your mission ahead."

* * *

><p>"Are you sure this was a good idea?" Glynda Goodwitch asked.<p>

"No, but I know that there is a greater chance of success if there is a passion that the rescuers have for the hostage." Ozpin replied, wiping his brow.

"But you are sending two first-year teams."

"I'm aware of that, but they are two of the teams closest to Weiss."

"At least you gave them Team SEAL to follow."

"Yes, I feel they needed some experience there."

"Why didn't you include Team JNPR? They're probably closer to Weiss than SCAR."

"I have another mission for them, which they are on right now."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Because, it has been a closely guarded secret between me and them."

"And I was not included in the loop?"

"I only spoke to them when it was absolutely necessary, and you didn't need to know until now."

"Where did you send them?"

"That, I cannot disclose."

"Fine, but promise me they will be safe."

"No promises, but I trust them to get the job done."

* * *

><p>"T-minus one." Archer said to the group.<p>

"Everybody ready?" Sandman asked.

Varying degrees of "yes" responded.

"Everybody remember where to go?"

Again, everybody acknowledged.

"Then let's do this, stay frosty."

Sandman jumped out of the stealth plane that they had switched to fifteen minutes before. Everyone quickly followed suit behind him.

They landed two miles away from the warehouse Weiss was in. This was to keep stealth, it wouldn't do to have people seeing the parachutes floating down from above.

Sandman was the first to cut off his parachute and proceeded to fold it and stick it under a log. Everyone else followed suit, and Sandman started forwards.

They were walking in arrowhead formation, with Team SEAL in front. They reached the outskirts of the warehouse area and people started to split off. Colton and Krystal cut right and headed up the hill to their sniper vantage point. Sun, Blake, Ruby, and Yang all made their way to the fire escape for the building and started to make their way to the roof. Team SEAL and Aurora continued forward and stacked up on the front door.

"Team B, status" Sandman said through the throat mic.

"Team B, ready." Sun replied.

"Team C, status."

"Team C, ready and in place." Krystal said.

"Team D, status."

"Team D, ready for anything." Yang whispered.

"Alright, Team C, can you see any warm-blooded creatures inside?"

"One, right at the back." Colton responded while looking through Krystal's sniper scope.

"Team B, what do you have on robotic enemies?"

Sun activated his Sensor and replied.

"They seem to line the walls inside."

"How many?"

"Roughly fifty or so, twenty five to each side."

"Team D, be ready to back up any team that might need it. It looks like we might be engaging multiple hostiles."

"Copy, we are." Yang said.

"Everybody ready? Aurora, hit it."

There was a burst of orange flame as the dust-laced Thermite burned through the lock on the door. As it burned out, Aurora kicked the door open and admitted Sandman and the rest of Team SEAL into the building.

"Room clear, aside from the robots." Archer said.

"Any activated yet?" Sandman asked.

"None so far." Everett replied, looking around.

They approached the figure they had seen at the back of the warehouse. Suddenly, the room was alight with red.

* * *

><p>"One, right at the back." Colton handed the sniper back to Krystal and pulled out Amber and Ember.<p>

"Are you ready?" He asked Krystal.

"Not really, but that's not important." She responded.

"Well, just be ready to snipe stuff."

"I will, just protect my back."

"On it."

"Team B, they have ignited, enter in five."

"Roger." Came the response.

They both watched as Aurora kicked the door in and Team SEAL disappeared inside the building. Aurora gave them a thumbs up a few seconds later, to signal that they had not yet engaged. Suddenly, the building was suddenly engulfed in red light.

"Alarm must have sounded." Colton said. "It's time, don't miss."

"I won't." Krystal fired a round through the glass and one of the robots went down. "Like shooting fish in a barrel."

"Uh, Krystal?"

"What?"

"We've got a problem." Colton was staring up into the sky

"What exactly is it?" She looked up with him and her jaw dropped. "Oh no."

* * *

><p>"Roughly fifty or so, twenty five to each side." Sun deactivated his Sensor and looked at Blake. "Let's do this."<p>

Blake just nodded her head and they moved to the hatch they would drop down through.

"Team B," They heard Krystal announce over the radio. "They have ignited, enter in five."

"Roger." Sun replied, then opened the hatch.

He let Blake go in first, before dropping in himself. They landed right beside Weiss and lifted her head up.

"Fools." Vayla said, she was sitting in the chair wearing a white wig.

"How?" Sun started.

Vayla pushed a button on her remote and the room became a sea of red.

"What the?" Blake shielded her eyes against the light.

"You have made a grave mistake." Vayla said as she stood up out of the chair.

"Uh, guys?" Krystal came in over the radio. "We have a problem, enemy reinforcements have arrived."

* * *

><p>Ruby and Yang had been hanging out on the roof, ready for the go-ahead to start fighting. As they heard Krystal come over the radio, they looked at each other and dropped through the hatch Sun and Blake had gone into.<p>

"Where is Weiss?" Blake had Vayla by the neck and was squeezing into her.

Vayla simply stood there, but Blake started to lift her off the ground and her eyes went wide.

"She, she's at the-" Vayla suddenly vanished in a cloud of purple smoke, only to reappear a few feet away.

"You ignorant-" Blake was cut off as Vayla suddenly grabbed a rope that dropped down in front of her from the skylight.

"Bye now!" Vayla tugged the rope and she ascended swiftly.

"Aurora, come in." Sun yelled through his radio.

"Aurora here, what do you need? I'm a little busy!" Came the reply.

"I need you to take out the Bullhead directly above the skylight!"

"On it."

A few seconds passed, then they saw an explosion above them. The ship listed to the left and Vayla was forced to jump to the roof below.

"Thanks for the help, I'm coming to join you." Sun turned to address the other three. "You guys get up there and go after her, I'm regrouping with my team."

"Got it." Blake grabbed Ruby and Yang and shot Gambol Shroud at the roof, then pulling them up with her. "Good luck!"

Sun looked down from them just in time to see one of the activated robots running at him. He dodged out of the way and pulled out his staff in time to swipe out the legs from under it.

Sun sprinted towards the door, taking out the multiple enemies that got in his way. As he reached it, he turned and yelled to Team SEAL.

"We gotta find Weiss!"

"Switch warehouses." Sandman said to his team.

They all ran outside and Sun watched as Sandman led SEAL to the next building over. He looked away and saw Krystal and Colton fighting a losing battle at the top of the hill.

"We gotta save them!" He yelled to Aurora as he started running up towards his teammates.

"I'm with you!" Aurora replied, and followed him up.

* * *

><p>Krystal took a second to look at Colton, she saw the determined look on his face and turned back to face the White Fang operatives assaulting them.<p>

"We can't hold out much longer!" She yelled as she shot another arrow into the mass.

"I know," He yelled back. "But we can retreat down the mountain if we have to!"

"No you don't!" Came a voice from behind the two.

As they turned to see who it was, an explosion rocked the White Fang group they had been fighting seconds before.

"You two okay?" Sun asked as he ran up to Colton and Krystal.

"Peachy, nice stunt." Colton gestured to the now-defeated group of criminals in front of him.

"That was all Aurora, we need to start checking other warehouses for Weiss."

"What about Vayla?" Krystal asked.

"RWBY's got it covered, now let's work on that warehouse over there!" Sun pointed to one opposite the original.

"You got it, I can check for heat signatures. Krystal, keep me covered while I do that." Colton ran down the hill and Sun turned to face Aurora.

"Can you use Sensor again?" She asked.

"No, it would use too much Aura."

"Alright, I guess we're going in blind."

"Not completely, we will know if there are any human enemies."

"But robots are the main problem. Never mind, let's get down and help them!"

The two bounded down to rejoin their team, and Colton turned when they got there.

"No warm-blooded creatures, but robots are still an unknown."

"Then we don't need to check this one, move to the next."

They raced to the one beside it, only to find out that this one had no humans either. On the third one, though, Colton detected a massive group huddled in the back.

"I don't know if any are Weiss, but she could easily be lost in that croud." Colton said, looking at Sun to prove his point.

"Okay, here's the plan." Sun started.

"Teams B and C! Where are you? We need backup!" Sandman crackled in over the radio.

The four teammates turned in time to see SEAL burst out of the warehouse they had entered. Sun looked at his team, before running to assist SEAL.

"Team A, I'm on my way," He yelled over the radio, before turning back to talk to his teammates. "Infiltrate that warehouse! I will return ASAP!"

* * *

><p>"Look who decided to join me." Vayla said as Team RWBY jumped up to the ceiling.<p>

"You're awefully calm for someone who just lost their ride home." Blake replied.

"Oh, but that was the first of many. I will not be taken lightly."

Blake charged at Vayla and swung Gambol Shroud in a glittering arc, only to pierce the purple smoke where Vayla had been standing moments before.

"Nice try, but you will have to try harder than that." A voice said from a few feet to the left of where Vayla had been.

"You stupid-" Blake started to run after her, but was stopped by Yang.

"Easy there, tiger," Yang said. "We have to think this through, she can only move a few feet at a time."

Blake finally felt the red haze clear from her eyes and she was finally able to think straight.

"If I go up the middle, and you two take the sides…" Blake left the idea trailing, and rushed full on at Vayla.

"Another foolish run? Oh how will I survive?" Vayla cackled, failing to see Blake's two teammates spreading out to her sides.

She waited until Blake was a foot away and vanished. She reappeared a few feet away, laughing at the ease she had escaped. The only difference her was, Ruby was standing right behind her.

"What the?" Vayla exclaimed as Ruby grabbed her.

Vayla spun around in Ruby's grasp to assess her captor. She only got so far before her sight faded to black.

* * *

><p>"Ready? One, two, THREE!"<p>

BOOM! The door exploded inward and Aurora slipped through the gaping hole she had just made, closely followed by Colton and Krystal.

"Aim carefully! Weiss could be somewhere inside!" Aurora yelled as she saw Colton sprint towards the enemies.

He ran straight at the first one and rolled under the guy's legs. He struck out at the back of his knees with Amber and Ember and flowed seamlessly into a cut at another would-be opponent. He looked around and saw an explosion to his left, taking out a small group. Another person charged him and he threw Amber straight into it's face. He heard a whistle on his right and he saw another small group go down in a storm of arrows. Colton retrieved Amber and jumped over the dead body he had retained it from.

Krystal fired an arrow at one of the enemies who had decided it was a good time to take Colton from behind. She was just a second late as her arrow rammed into the guy as he was pulling his sword from Colton's side.

"COLTON!" Krystal screamed as she ran over to where she had seen her partner fall. "COVER ME AURORA!"

In the midst of numerous explosions, Krystal tentatively lifted Colton's head up and concentrated. A dark blue glow surrounded her and surged into Colton's exposed wound.

"Aura just got a little too low." Colton said weakly with a smile.

"I'm glad you're okay, but you won't be if we don't get out of here!" Aurora said as she ran by them.

Krystal looked up and saw a huge wave of White Fang soldiers running at them.

"What about Weiss?" Krystal yelled as she picked Colton up.

"Not here, somewhere else." Aurora replied as she ran out the door.

Krystal ran towards the exit with Colton in her arms. As she got out, she saw Aurora planting some C4 on the walls around the door.

"This should keep them occupied." Aurora waved them back and hit the detonator.

A huge orange fireball lit up the night sky, and burning bits of shrapnel fell everywhere.

* * *

><p>"Are you ready for this?" Pyrrha asked a very nervous Jaune.<p>

"Not in the slightest, but I know we have to do this." He replied, looking over at Ren and Nora.

"I trust you to lead us into this, I fully believe you can." Pyrrha leaned in and kissed him, leaving him in shock.

"Still gets me every time." He said after he recovered, shaking his head.

Pyrrha smiled at him and walked over to the rest of their team.

"You two alright? We will reach the LZ in five minutes."

"Fine, thank you." Ren replied before wincing as a shrill voice screamed beside his ear.

"I'M SO EXCITED TO DO THIS!" Nora yelled, making Pyrrha wish she had never given Nora a chance to speak.

"We know you are, just save that excitement for the mission ahead." Ren laid a hand on her shoulder, in an attempt to calm her down.

"OKAY!" She replied, as loud as before.

"Alright, I'm sorry I asked." Pyrrha took the opportunity to slip back to Jaune.

"She needs to start talking quieter before she breaks the Seattle record for loudest stadium single-handedly." He said as she reached him.

"I agree, let's just prepare," Pyrrha smiled at him. "I will follow you."

Pyrrha walked off to put on her armor, missing Jaune's mutter of "Bad idea".

* * *

><p>Sun watched as Team SEAL continued to be forced back into the open. He looked up and saw a bullhead hovering overhead, spinning up its miniguns.<p>

"Look out!" Sun cried out to the team as he jumped up to take out the threat.

Sandman, Everett, and Archer all jumped out of the way, but Lysoc was caught in the fire.

"Lysoc!" Everett started to run towards his fallen friend, but was stopped by Sandman.

"Too late for him, we have to move to the next warehouse and find Weiss."

"But-"

"No 'buts', we have to find the hostage."

At that moment, Sun dropped down behind them.

"I'm sorry, I yelled as soon as I could."

"Not your fault, he just wasn't fast enough." Sandman replied.

"How could he be with that huge M249 he always carries around." Archer muttered.

"Stop, focus on the objective. Stack up on the next door, we breach on three."

The three SEAL representatives and Sun ran over to the next warehouse entrance.

"Ready? One, two-" Sandman was cut off by a huge orange explosion from across the street.

"What was-" Archer started.

"Three!" Sandman yelled as he kicked open the door.

* * *

><p>Vayla crumpled to the ground following Yang's devastating punch.<p>

"Whoa." Ruby fell to a sitting position and looked at the unconscious girl in front of her.

"Glad she finally bit the dust, at least for a while." Yang said as a large explosion lit up their surroundings.

"There sure are a lot of explosives being used today." Blake commented as she looked over the edge of the building.

What she saw was Aurora and Krystal run away from a newly burning building, with Krystal carrying Colton in her arms.

"Ruby," Blake said, looking back. "Keep an eye on her, me and Yang need to help the rest."

"Okay, good luck." Ruby replied as she crouched down near Vayla.

"Keep her unconscious, we don't want her escaping."

"Got it, now go."

Yang walked up beside her girlfriend and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"That's for good luck, now let's go break the tides." Yang jumped off the roof, with Blake right behind her.

They landed and took a look at their surroundings. They saw a huge mass of White Fang soldiers pouring out of the warehouse next to theirs. They cast their gaze wider and saw Team SEAL and Sun assaulting the building after that, and Aurora and Krystal making their way there as well.

"Let's go make ourselves known." Yang took off towards the White Fang group running towards SEAL and Sun, with Blake on her heels.

* * *

><p>"Hurry!" Aurora yelled back to Krystal as they sprinted towards the warehouse Sun had gone into a moment before.<p>

"Can you run?" Krystal asked the bundle in her arms.

At Colton's nod, she put him down and they resumed running side by side. They reached the building a few seconds before the mass of White Fang soldiers and slammed the door shut behind them.

"That won't hold them long." Krystal turned around and saw Team SEAL and Sun huddled around a figure on the other side of the room, with Aurora making her way over.

"Stay here and guard this, I'll go see what the fuss is over there."

"Go." Colton said as he braced himself against the door.

Krystal ran over to everyone else and saw what they had been looking at. Weiss was sitting in the chair, beaten and exhausted, barely alive.

"Move over, let me see what I can do." Krystal bent down to Weiss and gestured for everyone else to hold the door.

They all ran off to help Colton and Krystal held her hand out to Weiss. She concentrated for a few seconds before a dark blue haze rushed out of her arm and surrounded Weiss.

"Hope this works." She said as Weiss appeared to start shaking in front of her.

The haze stayed around Weiss for a few seconds before diffusing into her. Weiss shook her head and looked around weakly.

"Where am I?" She asked as she saw Krystal kneeling in front of her.

"In captivity, but not anymore." Krystal replied as she unstrapped Weiss' arms from the chair.

Weiss sagged forwards and Krystal caught her as glass shattered above her.

"What?" Krystal looked up to see four bullheads depositing more enemies onto the roof. "Guys? Get back here now!"

* * *

><p>Blake and Yang hit the group in front of them at full force, scattering White Fang everywhere. They continued forwards until they reached the door and they slipped through, leaving more than a few dead bodies behind them. The scene inside was not reassuring: Krystal was running towards them with Weiss in her arms, while everyone else was rushing the other way to engage the enemies dropping in from above.<p>

"You found her!" Blake went straight to Krystal and took Weiss from her arms.

"Yes, but we still need to get out." Krystal replied, looking back to see her teammates and SEAL fighting a losing battle.

"On it." Yang rushed over and joined the fray, as more White Fang soldiers kept swarming in.

"Without backup, we can't win this." Blake said as she assessed the situation before her.

"Did somebody call for backup?" A new voice yelled from behind them.

Krystal and Blake turned to see Nora standing in the doorway, beckoning them forward. "Transport has arrived, everybody to the door!" Krystal yelled into the radio as she led Blake towards Nora.

Ren appeared behind Nora and took Weiss from Blake's arms, before turning back to put her in the stealth craft.

"Everybody in!" Pyrrha yelled from the cockpit, and Krystal jumped in.

Blake turned around and looked back at everybody else, who were slowly moving back towards them, before jumping in behind Krystal.

* * *

><p>"Transport has arrived, everybody to the door!" Sun heard over his radio.<p>

He turned for a split second and saw Nora standing in the doorway before flipping back and blocking a sword stroke aimed at his neck.

"You guys go!" Sandman yelled to him. "We'll keep them occupied!"

Sun broke off the front line and ran towards the exit with Colton, Aurora, and Yang. As they reached the ship, they saw Ruby running over with an unconscious Vayla slung over her shoulder. They all jumped in and Sun turned to watch Team SEAL make their escape. But it was not to be, Sandman, Archer, and Everett were slowly moving back.

"Hurry!" Jaune yelled through the radio at them.

"Taking fire!" Pyrrha yelled. "Pulling up!"

"Not without SEAL!" Sun yelled, eyes glued on the three soldiers in front of them.

Archer threw down his weapon, apparently out of ammo, and drew two pistols and started firing them in two different directions. Sandman turned and yelled for everyone to leave them, before pulling out his knife and stabbing one of the people rushing him. A stray shot hit his arm and he too pulled out his pistol, firing at the hostiles with his left arm.

"We aren't leaving you!" Sun yelled, knowing it was futile because he saw the White Fang streaming in the front door to flank SEAL.

"You did good kid!" Sandman yelled over the radio, before taking out a detonator.

Sandman turned one last time to salute in the direction of the ship, before clicking the detonator. The building erupted in a massive orange ball of flame and Pyrrha pulled the ship out of the way just in time.

"SANDMAN!" Sun yelled, watching helplessly as no response came back.

"I'm sorry, I gave it to him." Aurora put a hand on his shoulder and then hugged him.

Sun turned into the hug and returned the favor.

"Why would you do that?" He asked.

"He told me to, he said that he would take a lot down with him if he had to use it."

"But they could have made it out."

"Not at that point, you saw that they were surrounded."

"I know, I just don't want to believe it."

"It's okay." Aurora hugged him tighter and looked around at the haggard mass around her.

Krystal and Colton were sitting in the corner, catching their breath. Yang, Blake, Ruby, and Weiss were embracing in a group hug. Ren and Nora were watching Vayla and Jaune and Pyrrha were piloting the aircraft.

"One life for four." Aurora heard from the person in her embrace.

"But we took out a lot of White Fang, and we have Vayla hostage. Overall, a good day." She replied.

"I guess so."

The ship flew through the sky, transporting a battle-weary group of hunters back to Beacon.

* * *

><p>"I would like to personally thank all of you for your heroics in both rescuing Weiss Schnee and capturing Vayla Cenesh. You have done everyone a great service." Ozpin looked at the circle of faces in front of him. "You will be pleased to know that Vayla is in captivity with her aura being constantly sapped to prevent escape."<p>

"That's definitely good, she would easily make her way out otherwise." Sun replied.

"As for Team SEAL, I will feel their loss deeply. They were my top second-year team and were very effective in the field."

"I would like to express an apology for their loss on my behalf." Weiss said, bowing her head.

"It was not your fault, they knew what they were getting in to when they went on this mission."

"But-"

"No 'but's, they died a heroic death and the most I expect from you all is to attend the funeral."

"Of course." She responded.

"But enough about that, congratulations on a more-than-successful mission."

"Thank you." Sun said.

"You all have done very well, all of you. I look forward to these next three years I have with all of you. You are dismissed."

* * *

><p>"What do you mean she's gone?"<p>

"Sir, we have scoured the area over and over and we have not found her."

"Well, do it again!"

"Of course, sir."

"Find me my step-daughter before tomorrow morning or I will personally have your head on a platter for breakfast!"

"Yes sir."

"Have we located Blake yet?"

"No sir, Vayla had the location but she is now MIA."

"I know that! Don't keep reminding me!"

"Absolutely sir."

"Then go find her, now!"

"Of course, sir."

"SO GO DO IT!"

"As you wish."

And with that, the man walked out, intent on finding Vayla amidst the wreckage.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>Wow. That took way too long to write, and I would like to say thanks to a few special people. First, Leviticus Wilkes for editing the later chapters and reviewing every chapter. Second, Colton and Kyla, two of my friends in real life, for editing earlier chapters and moral support. Third, anyone who reviewed at all, your responses mean a lot. Fourth, all of you for being very supportive and giving me a reason to write more. And last, every English class I have ever taken, I would not be able to write if I had never learned the English language. Thank you all VERY much for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**


	20. Chapter 20: Firefight

**_IMPORTANT:_  
>If you are confused as to why I am uploading something I have already uploaded in the past, go to my profile. There is a note at the very top of the page. It's impossible to miss and it will explain what I am doing. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me them. Thanks. Chas1881<strong>

**Chapter 20: Firefight**

It was two days after Weiss' rescue, and everybody was in high spirits. Weiss was back and the tournament had been continued.

"We gotta win today." Colton said to Krystal.

"I know, but we're gonna have to beat our friends in one or both of the rounds." She replied.

"We can take them, we just have to fight like we did the other day."

"I know, but anything can always go wrong."

"You know what they say."

"What?"

"The moment you think you will lose, you do lose."

"Shut up." Krystal shoved him and started towards the door. "Now let's go kick some-"

* * *

><p>Colton and Krystal walked through the double doors to the auditorium.<p>

"Hey guys!" Yang called from the first row. "Come on over! I saved you a spot!"

They made their way down and sat in the seats designated for them.

"I see everyone has now assembled." Glynda Goodwitch started.

"We were the last ones?" Krystal asked, looking around in confusion.

"Yes," Goodwitch sighed. "And now you are delaying further, anything else you would like to add?"

"Uh, what does the bracket look like?"

"Valid question, I didn't think you had it in you." Goodwitch pushed a button on her scroll and the big screen behind her lit up, showing off the match-ups for today. "Here it is, you have five minutes to prepare."

Colton and Krystal would be fighting Quentin and Ulfric of Team QUBE while Sun and Aurora would have to go up against Blake and Yang.

"You're going down." Yang said to Sun as she leaped up onto the stage.

"Yang, you realize we have five minutes before we fight." Blake rolled her eyes and motioned for Yang to come sit back down.

"Right, I wasn't listening."

"Obviously."

As Yang sat down, Goodwitch walked up to the microphone and announced that the five minutes were up.

"I just sat down!" Yang exclaimed, aiming a hurt look at Blake.

Blake just shrugged and followed her excitable girlfriend up on stage.

"You ready?"

"Totally."

"Then let's go."

Blake crouched into her battle stance and Yang readied Ember Celica as the countdown started going down.

* * *

><p>"Zero!" Yang yelled as she propelled herself into the air.<p>

She surveyed the battlefield from her elevated position and saw Sun and Aurora both crouching in defensive stances. Looking left, the shadow left behind as Blake moved forwards darted all around the arena.

Cracking a small smile, Yang propelled herself to the ground towards Sun and Aurora. She smashed down, leaving no chance for anyone to escape, or so she thought.

"Missed me." Aurora whispered from behind her.

Yang spun around only to get her feet swept out from under her. She hit the ground and rolled to avoid the follow-up hit, but it never came. Instead, she found herself flying towards the sky again with most of her aura gone.

Aurora looked up at the soaring body of Yang before turning her attention to where Blake and Sun were engaged. The two looked evenly matched but as she watched, Sun was pushed back by a renewed attack by Blake.

"Hiya!" Yang screamed from the sky as she crashed back down to earth again.

She looked up and Aurora was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did she-" Yang was cut off when she lept to the side to avoid a grenade.

"Right here." Aurora back-flipped over Yang, who was was turning around to answer, and ended up behind her.

Yang was held in a headlock of sorts, and she was fighting to get out of it. She managed to turn her head and look at her captor. Her eyes widened as she saw the detonator that would finish this battle off in Aurora's hand.

"Sorry Yang, but-" And suddenly Yang was free, with only one person knowing what had happened.

"Take Sun!" Blake called as she started towards Aurora.

Yang turned as she regained her footing and saw a body running at her. She dodged and lashed out at Sun as he want by.

"Woah." Sun leaped over the low blow and used his tail to pull Yang to the ground.

He quickly spun and smashed his staff into the ground where Yang had been a second ago. Yang punched him from the side and he rolled to absorb the impact. Sun took a second to take a full look at the battlefield. Aurora and Blake were engaged in a very close fight, with each taking similar damage. Sun looked further and realized that Aurora would run out first if he didn't do something. That brought his mind to the problem on hand: an angry Yang sprinting at him.

"Not escaping this time, Sunshine." She said as she started firing a storm of bullets at him.

If she hadn't been firing, she probably would have had the advantage. As it was, she was partially blinded every time she fired by the flash of Ember Celica. This caused her to miss her target slightly, which resulted in her going past the point where Sun was. As she stopped firing, she saw she was now running full tilt right at Blake.

"And." Sun said dramatically. "Boom."

Yang smashed straight into her girlfriend, bringing them both to the ground in one fell swoop. Yang's aura dropped into the red and Goodwitch called the match.

"Good game." Sun congratulated the heap on the ground.

"Thanks." The muffled reply came.

Blake and Yang got up slowly and smiled at Sun and Aurora.

"Good job, that was a smart trick using Yang's attraction to mien battle." Blake said with a gentle jab in Yang's side.

"I just happened to be at the right place at the right time." He replied. "With a lot of careful positioning first, of course."

"Of course." With that, Blake and Yang sat down in their seats, content to watch the other semifinal match-up.

* * *

><p><em>This section is supposed to be where the battle of Colton and Krystal fighting Quentin and Ulfric is. Unfortunately, the author wrote this whole thing and decided it was too short and was best left out. *Cough cough, I mean, he lost the footage of the battle and could not remember much about it. The state of cameras these days, I swear. I guess the least I could do is tell you who won, but you can probably guess. I will give you thirty seconds to place your votes. *Insert Final Jeopardy music here*. Alright, time's up. Let's see how you did: Quentin and Ulfric won. The was hard to say with a straight face. Colton and Krystal won, of course. But really, who did you think would win? Well, I guess the only thing I can show you now is the finals match between Sun and Aurora and Colton and Krystal. And… Commence.<em>

* * *

><p>The four teammates walked up on stage and took their respective sides, Colton and Krystal on one and Sun and Aurora on the other.<p>

"Good luck!" Krystal yelled across cheerfully.

"You too!" Aurora replied, mimicking the pitch Krystal had used.

"Not fair, let's beat them Colton." Krystal muttered to her teammate beside her.

The timer struck zero and Krystal brought her bow up to rain a barrage of arrows upon Sun and Aurora. She was stopped by an explosion the sent her flying backwards into the wall.

Aurora brought Scandiv down slightly and surveyed the damage she had caused. Krystal's aura had been brought down halfway with just that one hit, one more of those and the match would be over. As she raised her weapon again to do just that, she felt it knocked out of her hands.

"Nice shot." Colton muttered as the gun was sent flying.

He followed it up with a swipe at her C4 with Amber, effectively doing nothing but still providing the opportunity he needed. As Aurora looked down at Amber, he was already swinging with Ember. He was only a centimeter away from ending the game right-

"Thwack!"

Colton watched as Ember was sent on a similar trajectory to Scandiv and he jumped back as the second swipe came. He could see Sun standing in front of a quickly recovering Aurora, his staff out to prevent any attack. Colton looked down at Amber, his last remaining weapon, and charged at the two. Sun braced for an attack from in front, but instead was plagued by a hail of arrows from above.

Krystal had seen everything in perfect double vision, as she was still recovering from the initial hit. When she saw Colton lose Ember, she painfully stood up and nocked three arrows to her bow. She released, barely seeming to take any time to aim, and watched the arrows make their upward and then downward path towards Sun and Aurora.

Sun looked up at the last second and managed to dodge the worst of the attack, but Aurora was caught in the middle of it all. As Sun was still looking up, he felt something smash into him. He was sent through the air and he managed to catch a glimpse of Colton making his way over to Aurora.

Aurora's aura had dropped to just above the red after the arrow barrage, and she had started trying to crawl away. She looked up and saw Colton approaching her with Amber poised for the final blow. She pulled out her detonator and held it up so Colton could see that she still had a small amount of control over the situation. She quickly felt the detonator get knocked out of her hands by an arrow and she started scrambling backwards again. She heard the hiss of another arrow and winced as it pinned her to the ground.

Colton stood over his trapped enemy, savoring in the moment of victory, before bringing Amber down and ending the fight.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>I'm starting with this chapter on my way to uploading all chapters onto A Spark in the Darkness. I would like to remind people that these are chapters I wrote quite a while ago, and are not accurate examples of how I write now. Anyways, thanks for reading. Chas1881  
><strong>


	21. Chapter 21: Escape

**Chapter 21: Escape**

_**The streets of Vale, one week after the rescue of Weiss.**_

He had to run, the sirens were close behind him. They were after him, trying to get back the dust crystal he had stolen just minutes ago. He rounded a corner and slammed into someone, bringing them both tumbling to the ground.

"Salutations!" The person he had just hit said as he stood up.

"Uh, hello, sorry for running into you." He hastily replied, glancing back to see how close the police were behind him.

"It's fine, no problem has arisen." The girl, he could now tell the gender, said with a creepy look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I need to go. Bye!" He waved and continued running, only to slide to a stop to avoid running into the same girl again.

"Why the hurry?" She asked, leaning close to him.

"The cops are after me." He said impatiently, trying to step around her.

"But why?" She moved, blocking his path forward.

"I stole something I shouldn't have and they want it back."

"Stealing is bad, you should return it."

"I have to steal it, my family is barely living."

"That doesn't matter, you should still give it back."

"Listen, I don't know who you are-"

"My name's Penny."

"Okay, Penny then. But I need to provide for my family, and- You know what? Never mind." He finally activated his Semblance and Penny gasped, he had vanished before her eyes.

"Where did you go?" She asked, looking around.

"Goodbye." He reappeared behind her, and started running away again.

Luckily for him, Penny was too much in shock to keep up with him. He continued his escape, finally disappearing into the intricate maze of the city.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Professor Ozpin's Office in Beacon Academy.<strong>_

"What do you mean, she escaped?" Ozpin was deathly calm, staring daggers at the second-year student standing before him.

"I went to check on her five minutes ago and she wasn't there, her ASH was on the ground but the rest of the room was fine." The student replied nervously, knowing that an angry Ozpin was not good for his welfare.

"Don't you have security footage of that room?"

"Yes, but it glitched out last night and we haven't been able to fix it."

Ozpin turned away for a second, massaging his temples.

"Okay," He said as he turned back. "Check any tapes from this morning and make sure nothing else is missing."

"From the room?"

"From anywhere, you are dismissed."

The student made his way towards the door, only to run into a frantic Blake.

"I need to speak to Ozpin." She said.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Team RWBY's room, ten minutes earlier.<strong>_

Blake opened her eyes, she was sure she had heard a noise.

'There it is again.' She thought to herself, hearing the creak of her door opening. 'What could that mean?'

Blake slowly rolled to her side so that she could face the rest of the room. The creaking stopped but, after a moment, resumed again.

'Someone is coming in, but who could it be this early in the morning?' Blake asked herself, taking the opportunity to check the clock in the middle of the room.

4:12 AM, it read.

She slipped out of bed and hid beside Weiss', content to let the intruder believe that the sleeping form of Yang on her bed was her.

Slowly but surely, a shadow moved across the room. It stopped in front of Yang, and slowly reached for her.

"What the?" Vayla cried as she was seized from behind.

"How did you get out?" Blake asked, holding the other girl in a headlock.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Blake?" A sleepy voice asked. "What's going on?"

"Nothing Yang." Vayla crooned, earning her a sharp jab in the back.

"Yang," Blake started calmly. "Vayla is here, I have her in a headlock, can you wake up please?"

"Okay, good ni- wait, what?" Yang jumped from her bed and found a very confused Blake sitting on the ground in a cloud of purple smoke. "What happened?"

"She… Vayla was here just a second ago." Blake replied, looking around the room.

"How did she escape in the first place? And how did she get out of your headlock?"

"I don't know, and I assume she used her semblance. I forgot all about that."

"It's okay, you're fine now." Yang moved over to hug her girlfriend.

"Blake? Yang? What's going on?" Ruby yawned and looked over the edge of her bed.

"Nothing, go back to sleep." Yang replied instinctively.

"Okay." Ruby disappeared back over the edge and settled back in her bed.

"You had better go tell Ozpin." Yang said to Blake, motioning towards the door.

* * *

><p>"I need to speak to Ozpin." Blake burst through the door.<p>

"And why would that be?" Ozpin looked at Blake, who looked quite distressed.

"Judging from your face, I would say you have already heard Vayla has escaped."

"I have, but how would you know?"

"She tried to sneak into my room."

"Tried?"

"I was able to stop her before doing too much damage."

"Why do you think she went to your room?"

"She might have been trying to kidnap me while I was sleeping."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow and Blake hastily elaborated.

"Remember, when Weiss was stolen, Vayla's final objective was to get me."

"Really? I was not informed of this."

"Weiss told me a couple days ago."

"Interesting, did she tell you anything else that I should know about?"

"Not that I can think of, sir."

"Alright then, you are dismissed."

* * *

><p>"How?" Sun was pacing back and forth in his team's room, alone except for one other person.<p>

"Still no info on that yet, but we believe that she was able to use her Semblance to escape." Lance, a member of Team BOLT, replied.

"But she had the ASH on, unless she found a way to take it off."

"We aren't sure, but evidence suggests that she was still in the helmet when she teleported."

"But that would mean she would have had no aura to teleport with."

"Like I said, we have no real clue as to how she had enough aura to teleport."

"Promise me something."

"Okay."

"You tell me anything you find out about Vayla in general, clear?"

"Absolutely, you can count on me personally."

"Good, thank you for bringing me everything you have so far."

"My pleasure, enjoy the rest of your day." Lance slipped out, not catching the final words from Sun.

"Not with this lunatic on the loose." Sun muttered, then followed Lance out the door.

Sun made his way towards the cafeteria, intent on catching a quick breakfast before Professor Kipmud's Aura Usage Class today. As he pushed through the doors, he saw Colton and Krystal sitting at a table with Team RWBY. He made his way through the food line, grabbing a handful of random bananas only.

"Good morning." He solemnly said as he sat down.

"Morning!" The rest of the table replied enthusiastically.

"I'm assuming everyone heard the news?" He asked, looking around at the other occupants of the table.

Blake and Yang both looked at each other and nodded at Sun.

"No, what?" Krystal replied.

"Vayla escaped from her cell today."

Krystal spewed out her Fiji and Colton burst out in nervous laughter beside her.

"You're kidding me." Colton said after he regained his composure.

"So that was the commotion this morning." Ruby looked at Yang. "You told me it was nothing."

Yang, for her part, wisely stared at the ceiling and started whistling tunelessly.

"Stop it, that's annoying." Blake hit her girlfriend and Yang stopped.

"Yes, I am serious." Sun responded, reclining back as far as his chair would allow.

"After all the work we put into taking her in the first place?" Krystal asked incredulously.

"Even worse than that, Team SEAL's sacrifice is now for much less."

"Hey!" Ruby hugged Weiss jealously. "Weiss was an important thing too."

"I realize that, but four people shouldn't die for one. I don't care how important that one may be. No offense Weiss."

"None taken," Weiss replied, then unwrapped Ruby from around her waist. "But I think my girlfriend took all of it for me."

"It was an insult." Ruby looked into the pale blue eyes of her most important individual.

"But it was a well placed insult, that was true in every way."

Yang nodded her head approvingly, adding another mental check mark in her evaluation of Weiss.

"But back to the more important topic," Sun interrupted. "Lance informed me that they still have no clue as to how she got out, other than the obvious fact that she used her Semblance."

"But she had that aura hat on right?" Krystal asked.

"The Aura Sapping Helmet, yes."

"Then how did she use her Semblance?"

Sun shrugged his shoulders.

"I know no more than you on that subject."

"Well, she's on the loose, and we will probably be the ones to have to find her again." Blake spoke up.

"Bingo, and we have to be ready for anything. Now let's go learn about that aura." Sun stood up and threw away his trash, then started on his way to class.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>If you have any questions, check my profile or PM me. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**


	22. Chapter 22: Professor Kipmud

**Chapter 22: Professor Kipmud**

**In a worn-out shack, somewhere in downtown Vale.**

"Success." A voice called out as the door opened.

"What is it this time?" The reply came. "I don't like you stealing for us."

"This, and you know we wouldn't be living without me." The first held up the dust crystal in his hand.

He reached down and hugged the one sitting down.

"I love you mother. And you know I would do anything for you."

"I know, I love you too son." She hugged him back, planting a kiss on his cheek. "But don't do anything too reckless."

"I know." He perked up, he was always happy when his mother didn't argue with him. "Can I go see what Alex is up to?"

"I suppose, but don't do anything foolish." She rolled her eyes.

"I won't mother." He slipped out the door.

"Goodbye, my little moon." She whispered as he left.

* * *

><p><strong>In a very bored classroom at Beacon.<strong>

"Over the last few weeks we have discussed the usage of aura, but we never went into specifics."

Professor Kipmud was talking in the front of the class, and all the students were all listening attentively. Well, not exactly.

"Are we done yet?" Krystal whispered.

"Nope, it just started." Colton replied.

"Ugh." Krystal sank down further in her seat and sighed.

"Today we will be starting a new unit on specialized Semblance usage." Kipmud continued. "More specifically, how each of us uses our Semblance and how they vary greatly from person to person. Miss Nikos, would you care to show yours first?"

"Of course, sir." Pyrrha walked up and, winking at Jaune, used her Semblance to pull his metal pen to her hand.

"Very good, Miss Nikos. Now, that Semblance was Polarity, the ability to manipulate magnetic fields. You can have a seat. Miss Schnee, would you care to show us yours?"

Weiss walked up after a nod and sprang up into the air using her glyphs.

"Class, that Semblance was the usage of Glyphs. Miss Rain, care to give us some insight into yours?"

"You're coming down with me." Krystal pulled Colton down to the front and proceeded to lash out with a vicious kick in the back of his knee.

Colton fell to the ground and Krystal quickly knelt beside him. She raised her hand over the fracture she had made and a dark blue haze surrounded her. It rushed down her arm and into the fracture, immediately healing the bone and surrounding area.

"Thanks." Colton muttered as she helped him up and pulled him back to their seat.

"That was Recovery, the ability to heal people far faster than would be typically possible. Next?"

The demonstration continued, with Colton showing off his Infrared ability, Sun showing off Sensor, and many others showing off their respective talents.

"Well it seems that's everyone, would anyone like to know my Semblance?" Professor Kipmud asked, looking at every student in turn.

Out of the whole class, one kid nodded his head. Kipmud apparently found this number satisfactory, because he continued anyway.

"I have the ability to breathe underwater." He said proudly, puffing his chest out.

The room was suddenly ablaze with badly contained laughter, for this Semblance was one of the most common out there.

"Don't laugh, I won every underwater breathing competition as a child."

"I bet you did." Krystal muttered under her breath.

"Now, there are many various levels of Semblance. The first is Level One, mine is an example, meaning I am the first generation in my family to have a Semblance. Level Two would be something like Polarity. Miss Nikos is the second person in her family to have a Semblance, and I'm sure any siblings she may have have a similar Semblance as well. Level Three is where it starts to get crazy, like Miss Belladonna's Shadow. She is the third generation, so her Semblance is very well developed. The final level is Mister Wukong's Sensor, Level Four. He is the fourth generation in his family to have a Semblance, and it has apparently evolved into the state it is now."

"That's a lot of info." Colton said, writing furiously to keep up.

"Now, let's talk about siblings. Who has siblings that you know has a Semblance?"

Sun and Pyrrha, among others, raised their hands.

"Wonderful, do any of you know what their Semblance is?"

"My sister has the ability to manipulate clay, it's referred to as Keramos." Pyrrha spoke up.

"Very good. You see class, Pyrrha and her sister have similar Semblances. One can control metals and the other can control clay."

"Ugh. Wake me if anything important happens." Krystal said quietly as she leaned against Colton's shoulder.

Colton just rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the professor.

"Does anybody else want to tell the class about your siblings?"

Kipmud's question was met with stony silence.

"Uhhhhhh, okay then. Let's move on. Our first topic is on Level One Semblances, like mine."

The soft sound of snoring began to emanate from the back of the room, and Kipmud paused for a second before continuing on.

"Level One Semblances are the most basic of all, but they are also the most special. Typically these are formed in the child of two people with large aura reserves."

"If they have large aura reserves, why don't they have a Semblance?" Yang asked.

"Good question, thank you so much for asking it."

"Oh you're very welcome." She muttered sarcastically.

"Semblances are a bit of a rarity… Or, they used to be. After the last large scale war with the Grimm, the people who survived tended to be the ones with Semblances."

Sun felt Aurora cringe beside him.

"Now we're in science class." Someone said.

"Son, science is everywhere. But that's not the point of this lecture. Natural selection plays a very important part of life, and that applies to battle as well. People with Semblances are able to use them to survive in a fight, and the ones without do not have that ability. This is why so many regular people died in the Grimm War, but people with Semblances lived to reproduce. This is why most of the people you see have a Semblance, especially students at Beacon."

Aurora buried her face in Sun's shoulder and began to cry silently.

"What if two people with two different levels of Semblance reproduce?" Blake asked.

"Another great question, thank you for asking. I- Can somebody wake Miss Rain up?"

Colton jabbed at Krystal and she woke up with a start.

"Whowhatwhenwherewhy?" Krystal clumped her words together and shook her head.

"Payback" Colton whispered.

"Thank you for rejoining us, Miss Rain. Now back to Blake's question. Two people with different levels of Semblance that reproduce form a slightly, ah, more complicated offspring."

"What does that mean?"

"The child has a fushion level of the two parents. Miss Hirosaki is a perfect example of this."

Aurora brought her face away from Sun and looked at Kipmud with tear-streaked eyes.

"I would guess that she is a fusion of a Level One and a Level Two, this would be classified as a Level Undemi."

"In English please?" Yang said.

"Essentially, one and a half."

"Ah."

"Yes, a fusion of a Level Two and a Three would be a Deuxdemi. A fusion of Levels Three and Four is a Troisdemi."

"What about a person without a Semblance and a person with one?" Pyrrha spoke up.

"The child is a bit of a special case. They typically have giant aura reserves and are therefore more likely to have a child with a Semblance. They are not referred to as anything different than regular humans, aside from the aura reserves of course."

"Is Level Four the highest?" Colton chimed in, briefly checking his notes.

"From what we know, yes. But there is always the possibility that we have seen a Level Five and have just classified it as a Four. Common belief among scientists is that the fifth generation has the same level as the fourth. Therefore, I believe Level Five Semblances are no more powerful than Level Four."

"Interesting." Colton added another page to his notes.

"But that doesn't prove anything, it is but a theory. Any more questions?"

There was a widespread shake of heads and Kipmud glanced at the clock.

"It appears that we will have to get to the topic of Level One tomorrow. Class dismissed."

* * *

><p>"Ugh, that sucked." Krystal said as she walked out of the classroom hand in hand with Colton.<p>

"Let's look on the bright side…" Colton started.

"There's no bright side!"

"Of course there is, it wasn't Port's class."

"Is that really better?"

"For one thing, this class is more interactive and interesting."

"Easy for you to say, you actually paid attention."

"I seem to recall you being very excited to show off your Semblance." Colton replied with a sarcastic smile.

"That was one thing I was interested in doing." Krystal smiled back.

"We should go back to the room, we have some time before Oobleck's class."

"Follow me." Krystal started off purposefully before turning around. "I know that you were about to say it was a different way than I started, so I have already changed directions."

"Actually, for once you started out in the right direction." Colton responded, rolling his eyes.

"Right, always trust your first instinct."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>******If you have any questions, check my profile or PM me. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**  
><strong>


	23. Chapter 23: Information

**Chapter 23: Information**

He was running again; it had become his life. He thought back to earlier that day: That weird girl, what was her name? Penny! He had run into her and she wouldn't let him leave. As he had the thought, he felt himself hit something.

"Oof" He said as he crashed to the ground in a puff of purple smoke.

"I have been waiting for you." A childlike voice whispered beside him.

As he turned to face the voice he caught another cloud of purple smoke in the face.

"Who are you?" He called out in fright.

"I am someone who is more powerful than you, but have taken favor on you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" He continued to whip his head back and forth, trying to get a good look at his assailent.

"You will help me do something that I have been trying to do for a long, long time." The mysterious voice replied, slowly moving away.

He found himself following it as if in a daze. He didn't know how long he walked, but he eventually came upon a group of warehouses. Some seemed destroyed, but a couple were still intact. The voice led him into one of the few still standing.

"This is where it all begins." The voice suddenly appeared behind him and he spun around.

The owner of this voice turned out to be a small girl in a black combat suit festooned with purple smoke grenades. She had a black and purple toboggan on and purple leggings showing from under the combat suit. He thought that she had gone for too much black and purple.

"Done looking?" The girl asked with a smile that looked more like a snarl.

He brought his eyes up to the very young face and replied.

"Who exactly are you?"

"My name… is Vayla. I have plans for you."

"Aren't you a little-?" He started, before feeling a sharp pain in the back of his leg.

"I will forget that you ever mentioned it." Vayla turned and slipped through the door leading into one of the warehouses.

He got up slowly and limped inside behind her. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw next. There were three bloody and beaten objects hanging by chains from the roof. With a start he realized that the "objects" were human. As he watched, one of them turned its head and whispered something.

"Help." The man said before giving into the solace of unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>"I CAN'T WAIT!" Ruby was running ahead of her girlfriend, apparently really excited to get to Combat Training.<p>

"Why is that Ruby?" Weiss replied, having to speed up just to keep a conversation going.

"BECAUSE GOODWITCH IS ANNOUNCING WHAT YEAR AND TEAM SIZE THE TOURNAMENT IS GOING TO HAVE!"

Weiss pondered this for a second, before speeding up again to walk beside Ruby.

"I guess that is a big deal."

They entered the auditorium and saw every student in the school sitting in there.

"I hope those are our last arrivals, because we need to start soon." Goodwitch sighed, knowing full well that there were at least two people who would be after Ruby and Weiss.

The doors barged open a minute later and admitted Krystal and Colton into the auditorium.

"Right on time." Goodwitch muttered as the two took their seats and looked attentively at her. "All right class, as you know, the Vytal Festival is going on right now and the tournament is only a few days away. The team size has already been decided, and teams of four will compete. It is traditional that there is only one year competing. It is Vale's turn to draw a random year and Beacon was chosen to do it. Without further ado, let's begin."

Goodwitch reached down into the glass ball with all the slips of paper and moved them around.

"Why are there so many?" Krystal asked out loud.

"Some of them have the same writing." Colton whispered to her.

Goodwitch pulled out a slip and opened it.

"First year students."

The sound of complaints filled the room and drowned out the cheers of the teams that were competing.

"Congratulations, there will be a dance for all first year students tonight. You will register for the tournament tonight at the dance. Remember, only eight teams can register and it will be a first come, first serve situation, so tell me as early as possible." Goodwitch walked off the stage.

* * *

><p>"I'm really glad we're competing this year." Aurora said.<p>

"I agree, I think it's going to be interesting." Sun replied, opening the door to their room.

"I wonder who all will sign up."

"Let's see, us, RWBY, JNPR, BOLT. I'm sure there will be others."

"What about CRDL?"

"I'm sure they will sign up too."

They finally stepped into their room and were greeted by a sight of wreckage.

"I really wish Colton and Krystal would clean up after themselves." Aurora said, picking up a bedsheet that had been thrown across the room.

"So do I."

Aurora looked around the room a little longer and finally walked out with a huff. Sun followed her out and they made their way to the library. Sun walked to the desk and laid a book on the counter while Aurora wandered through the shelves aimlessly.

"Find anything?" Sun asked as he walked over.

"Nothing really." She replied, but then her eyes lit up and she hurried to a book that had caught her eye.

"Slow down, there's no ru-" Sun started, before seeing the book Aurora had picked up.

"'Thus Kindly I Scatter', looks interesting." She flipped through the pages and went towards the front.

"I remember that book."

"How so?"

"It was the first book I ever checked out in a library."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it was that exact copy as well."

"Wow." She looked at the book in awe.

Aurora had come to look up to Sun, ever since he had comforted her that first day. They had become best friends, but Aurora thought something more.

"Sun?" She asked, rapidly trying to think of a way to tell him what she felt.

"Yes Aurora?"

"I just wanted to say, I-" Aurora was interrupted by the crash of the door opening.

"Yang, calm down." Blake whispered as she led her girlfriend towards the shelves.

"But I don't want to." Yang pouted.

Blake rolled her eyes and her gaze fell on Sun.

"Hello Sun. Hey Aurora." She said.

They both turned their gaze over and nodded, before moving to check out.

"Sun and Aurora are here? Where?" Yang asked.

"Over there, be quiet."

"They look like we came in the middle of something." Yang's perceptive eyes never missed anything, at least she had quieted enough for Sun and Aurora not to hear her.

"Maybe, just don't worry about it. There will be plenty of time at the dance tonight."

"I'm already looking at you."

Blake shot her a venomous look and grabbed a couple books before strolling to the counter.

"These two, please."

The librarian scanned them and handed them back.

"Enjoy!"

* * *

><p>Sun was confused. Aurora had been about to tell him something, but she seemed to lose the courage to after Blake and Yang arrived. He had a feeling what she wanted to say, and he wished she would say it. There was the dance happening tonight, he would tell her what he felt then, he loved her.<p>

Aurora was furious. She had been about to tell Sun the one thing she had been trying to tell him for a while. Blake and Yang had ruined everything, or had they? Aurora remembered what Goodwitch had said about the dance tonight. What time would be better to confess your love for somebody? Suddenly Aurora couldn't wait for tonight, it would be her night to shine.

* * *

><p>"YOU SAID WE WOULD GO TO THE AMUSEMENT PARK!"<p>

"I am aware that I said that."

"YOU PROMISED ME!"

"I know, but you do remember why we weren't able to go right?"

"NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN AMUSEMENT PARKS!"

"Do you remember when we saved Weiss, one week ago?"

"I NEV- wait, yes I do remember that."

"That was the reason we didn't go to the Amusement Park."

"Oh."

"But look on the bright side."

"There's always a bright side."

"The dance is tonight, and I want to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Do you want to go to the dance with me?"

* * *

><p>"Wrong way again Krystal." Colton rolled his eyes and started off in the correct direction to their rooms.<p>

"Life is a constant test, that's what I'm trying to prove to you." Krystal replied, catching up with him.

"What test are you trying to get me to beat?"

"I'm testing your ability to know when I'm going the wrong direction."

"It's not hard, I just have to see which direction you are going, then go in another one."

"You're no fun." Krystal pouted as they approached their door.

"That may be true, but at least I can get where I need to go without the help of someone else." Colton shot her a meaningful look and stepped inside.

The room was a disaster, but they both took it as a sign of previous happiness.

"Looks like we have some cleaning to do." Colton glanced at Krystal and picked up a pillow that had been slung across the room.

"I guess so." She replied, philosophically accepting her fate and picking up some sheets.

They finished quickly, leaving them with nothing to do for the next few hours before the dance. As soon as Goodwitch had mentioned the dance, they had both looked at each other and nodded, both excited at the prospect of going together.

"I'm bored." Krystal complained.

"We've been done for a total of seven seconds, and you're bored?"

"Yes."

"Well, do you want to go find something to do?"

"Sure."

They walked out the door and immediately ran into Ruby and Weiss, who were on their way to one of the numerous training rooms to spar against each other.

"Do you want to come along?" Ruby asked, seeming to bounce up and down with energy.

"I'm fine with it, you?" Colton asked Krystal.

"Let's go." She replied.

With that, the four started on their way together to train.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>******If you have any questions, check my profile or PM me. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881****


	24. Chapter 24: The Dance

**Chapter 24: The Dance**

He stared in awe at the gruesome sight before him. The three men looked like they had been tortured: They had blood all over them and their skin was shredded. He brought his gaze down to Vayla, who seemed unaffected by anything.

"What have you done?" He asked, still trying to comprehend how such a small girl could do something like this.

"I have gotten payback on the people who ruined my plan." She replied simply, briefly glancing up at the bodies.

"What could they have possibly done to deserve this? What plan are you talking about?"

Vayla studied his face and replied, seemingly finding him either trustworthy or easy to manipulate. "I kidnapped someone so that I could use them as bait for someone else. These people helped in the rescue of the person I kidnapped and the capture of me. I escaped and returned to find them already very injured, so I took the liberty of wounding them more and stringing them up."

The whole time she had been talking, he had been staring at her with an expression she could not place.

"Makes sense, but what plans do you have for me?"

"I intend to use you as a method of bringing a girl named Blake Belladonna here for me."

"Who is that?"

"Not important, but are you aware of the Vytal Festival that is going on right now?"

"Yes, of course."

"We will take her then."

"And why should I help you?"

"Because when we bring her to a specific location, we recieve ten thousand lien."

"Woah, that's a lot of money, how much will I recieve?"

"Three thousand, more if you are efficient."

He thought about it for a while. Three thousand lien could really help both him and his family. It was the thought of his mother's face when he got home with that kind of money that decided it for him.

"Deal."

* * *

><p>"Here it is, Training Room Seven." Weiss said, looking around at the interactive environment.<p>

"The lucky one." Krystal muttered.

"You ready?" Colton asked her.

"Of course."

"How do you want to play? Tournament or Freestyle?" Weiss asked.

"Just for fun, freestyle."

"Then let's go."

The only difference between Tournament and Freestyle was the amount of people that had to fall into the red before the match was called. In Tournament, you only had to get one while in Freestyle you had to get all.

The two walked together to one end of the field, while Ruby and Weiss took their position on the opposite.

"Are all fighters ready?" A robotic voice said over the loudspeakers.

"Good to go!" Ruby yelled in return.

"Initiating countdown. Three. Two. One. Begin."

Ruby leapt up into the air, catching her feet on one of Weiss' glyphs and propelling herself off towards Colton and Krystal. She was quickly met with a storm of arrows all around but she was able to dodge them and swing Crescent Rose at Krystal.

"Watch out!" Colton was able to yell just in time for Krystal to back-handspring out of the way.

She landed on her feet and nocked an explosive arrow while Ruby stopped in front of her. They had reached a bit of an impasse, and both were furiously thinking of a way out. It was Ruby who came up with a way to end it. She knew that Krystal did not have the ability to weather explosions like Aurora could, and Krystal would hit herself as well as her if she fired. Ruby decided to charge but was met immediately by Krystal kicking her in the face and backflipping as Colton smashed into her from behind.

"Wha?" She exclaimed, confused by the turn of events.

What Ruby had failed to see was that Colton had knocked Weiss down into red aura and had ran back towards her. As Krystal was flipping away, he had taken the opportunity to shove Ruby to the ground and leap back, giving Krystal the time and target necessary to shoot the explosive arrow without fear of hitting herself. Ruby was able to look up in time to be hit by the arrow and get pounded into the ground in the subsequent explosion.

"Good game." Colton said as he helped her out of the hole.

"Nice one, Crater Face." Weiss laughed as she staggered over. "The name really applies now."

The laughing students made their way back to their rooms to change, all of them thinking about the dance.

* * *

><p>"You guys ready to go?" Sun asked, looking around at the rest of his team who were all splayed out on their beds.<p>

"Yep!" Krystal leapt into the air and high-fived Colton as he stood up.

"Uh, yeah." Aurora nervously got up, casting a quick glance towards the mirror.

Sun raised an eyebrow and continued on.

"Well then, let's go enjoy ourselves. Aurora?" He held out his hand and she took it tentatively.

Colton and Krystal smiled knowingly the pair, having already guessed what was going on between the two.

"You coming?" Sun asked over his shoulder as he lead Aurora out of the room.

"On the move." Krystal said happily as she followed them out with Colton in tow.

* * *

><p>Teams RWBY and JNPR walked down the hallway together, with each and every one of them growing more excited as the music started getting louder.<p>

"I can't wait!" Ruby was bouncing off the walls in her excitement.

"For once I have to agree." Weiss replied, everyone noting a faster twinge to her step.

'Weiss excited to go to a dance with Ruby? Good.' Yang thought as she added another mental checkmark to her evaluation of Weiss.

"I still want to go to the Amusement Park, but this will still be fun!" Nora saw the doors leading into the auditorium and she sprinted forward to barge them open.

"Whoa!" Tyger, a member of Team BOLT, exclaimed as he was thrown across the room by the door he was about to go through.

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha yelled after him, even though she had nothing to do with it.

The whole room took in the flying figure as he continued to sail across the room.

"He's still in the air!" Someone yelled as Tyger finally began the descent back to the ground.

He was a few inches from a painful landing when he felt an arrow pierce the sleeve of his shirt, sending him flying sideways. The combined momentum of gravity and the arrow provided a slightly less agonizing crash when he inevitably hit the ground. One thing the arrow did, however, was it made rolling difficult because it impaled itself in the ground.

"SKEET SKEET!" A voice came from behind Teams RWBY and JNPR.

Everyone in the room turned to look at the person who had "saved" Tyger. To nobody's surprise, the person strutting into the room was none other than Krystal of Team SCAR.

"All bow before your queen." She said with a glimmer of amusement in her eyes.

The room started to rise in tension as some students didn't like the way Krystal was going about her success.

"A queen that, somehow, always figures out how to go the wrong way." Colton said as he turned his eyes skyward. "Just look at the time we got here, we would have been here a few minutes ago."

Krystal shot him an unamused look, but the tension in the room lessened and some friendly catcalls were issued at Krystal. She took them in stride and walked over to where Tyger was struggling with the arrow.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly as she carefully pulled the arrow out of the ground, making sure not to twist the head.

"It's fine." Tyger responded with a smile.

"You done flirting Krystal?" Lance called out with a grin as wide as an ocean.

Krystal just laughed and backflipped over Colton to land behind him.

"I don't need to flirt, I've already got an idiot to attend to." She replied as she hugged Colton.

'This is going to be a long night.' Colton thought before amending it. 'But I get to be with Krystal, which more than balances it out.'

* * *

><p>The dance went by under the footsteps of the many party-goers. The music was constantly getting louder and louder and with it the people did the same. It was almost the end when the DJ announced that a special song was coming up. When the song came on, a slow one, everyone looked around for someone to dance with.<p>

"No." Yang told the fifth guy to come up to her looking to dance.

He walked back dejectedly and Yang turned to Blake, who was clearly enjoying the amount of people getting turned down for her.

"Wanna dance kitty?" Yang asked as she held out her hand.

"Of course." Blake took it and they began on their way around the room.

They saw Colton and Krystal go by less-than-gracefully while Ruby and Weiss exhibited beautiful dance skills.

"Blake remind me to tease those two later." Yang muttered as they continued on.

Ren and Nora swooped past, with Nora looking more excited than usual. Their eyes eventually landed on Sun and Aurora, who were going slower than the rest.

"Aurora, I need to ask you something." Sun said, catching a glimpse of Blake and Yang listening in and rolling his eyes at them.

"Yes Sun?" Aurora replied with hopeful eyes.

"Have you ever cared about anyone?"

"Not really, I've been an outcast for my whole life."

"But do you feel better here? With the rest of your team?"

"Of course, I feel more secure with you guys. I feel like I'm actually important to someone other than me."

"Do you know why you sense that?" Sun asked with a glint of mischief in his eyes.

"No, why?"

"Because you're very important to _me_." Sun leaned down slightly and kissed her on the lips.

They held it for a long moment but, like all other great things, were interrupted by a certain annoying blonde.

"I KNEW IT!" Yang leaped over and hugged them both before high-fiving Blake.

Sun smiled at her bravely with a hint of annoyance in his eyes while Aurora stared at the ground sheepishly.

"Thanks Yang, I always knew you would be there when I told her." Sun sarcastically said.

"Glad you know me well!" Yang replied.

"Let's go, I have something special for you." Blake pulled Yang away from the new couple and into a nearby closet.

"Always able to find one when you need them, unlike anything else." Yang muttered as she was pulled inside.

Sun watched the two disappear, then turned to Aurora.

"Want to dance?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>**If you have any questions, check my profile or PM me. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**  
><strong>


	25. Chapter 25: Vytal Tournament Part 1

**Chapter 25: Vytal Tournament Part 1**

One o'clock AM. Darkness surrounds everything. The room is quiet. The occupants sleeping. A dark figure roams. The soft sound of a gun cocking is heard. All of these normal things that happen in the middle of every night. One of the occupants stirs. The dark figure stops moving. He looks around. The stirred person slowly drifts back into sleep. The dark figure moves to one bed at a time. The sound of a silenced weapon is heard multiple times. The dark figure creeps back out of the room. He is convinced that everyone inside is now dead. 94%.

"Not good enough." Vayla yelled down at her partner in crime.

Said partner took a deep breath and turned his attention back to the screen, intent on proving he had the ability to succeed.

One o'clock AM.

* * *

><p>Bright sunshine streamed through the blinds of Team SCAR's room, uncovering the makeshift double beds that now filled the room. Krystal slowly rolled over, suddenly finding herself flat on the ground with the unhelpful smile of Colton glowing above her.<p>

"You know, I really don't like you sometimes." She said as she scowled up at him.

"Nah, you love me too much." Colton replied with a glint in his eyes.

Krystal continued to scowl at him until he pulled her back up into a hug.

"Can you two lovebirds quiet down over there?" The muffled voice of Sun floated through to them.

"Speak for yourself." Colton called back, glancing over to see that Sun and Aurora were a tangled mess in the covers.  
>"Shut up or your bed might become a pile of ash." Aurora mumbled through the blanket.<p>

"I'm just saying we're not snaking around each other."

"That's it assholes." A detonator appeared above the covers and Aurora clicked it.

The room was silent for a moment, then Colton and Krystal burst out laughing.

"Way to go champ-"

The bed occupied by Colton and Krystal was suddenly ablaze with flames, with both of them looking for a way off.

"TAKE COVER!" Krystal screamed.

The fire was shooting up around the outsides and this left them with no avenue for escape. Only Aurora, with her knowledge of what she had used, knew that the flames could not actually injure or burn anything other than the synthetic material she had layered the bed with the previous night. The fire died down and left Colton and Krystal in a brief moment of shock. They looked at each other, then at Aurora, then back at each other.

"Holy crap." Krystal laid back on the bed, slowly trying to calm her nerves.

"What was that f-" Colton saw another detonator slowly ascend from the mess of covers and stopped himself.

"Do it and this time it'll be real fire." Aurora sat up and said in a matter-of-fact way.

Colton and Krystal were all too happy to shut up and go about on their morning business. The two quickly left to go see what the cooks were serving for breakfast.

"Nice one." Sun hugged her from behind and stood. "Good way to get the adrenaline pumping on such a big day."

"Thanks, those two needed it anyway."

"That they did, ready to go?" Sun had finished getting ready and he was waiting beside the door.

"Of course, let's go."

* * *

><p>"THERE IT IS!" Nora ran ahead to the stage.<p>

"Calm down Nora, the announcer won't start any sooner if you're there faster." Ren called, rolling his eyes.

"You know you're not convincing her, right?" Pyrrha said, smiling at him.

"Oh believe me, I know."

"Did the dance go well?"

"It went fine." Ren quickly searched his mind for a better topic to talk about.

Nora had been very excited when he had told her what he felt and she had quickly reciprocated, but he wasn't ready to share that with the rest of the team yet. Pyrrha, noting the slight discomfort Ren was exhibiting, let him off the hook and brought up another problem.

"Jaune, did you finish your training routine last night?" She asked, throwing a sideward glance at her partner and boyfriend.

"Ah, well, you know Pyrrha, there were a lot of workouts on that list." Jaune was careful to avoid eye contact.

"Jaune, I'm here to help, I hope you know that. These workouts are intended to make you stronger."

"I know, but there are just so many of them."

"Okay, but try your best today." She smiled at him and they turned their attention to the stage.

One of the tournament officials had stepped up to the microphone and was now consulting the notes in front of him.

"Welcome to the twelfth annual Vytal Tournament! This year we have thirty-two teams hailing from all of the four cities. Remember that these teams will be composed of four members each and the participants are all first years students. The tournament will have four rounds and a championship game. Each team will face off against other teams from the same city until they are the only one left from their city. There will be two games showcasing the teams in the Final Four and the winners of these will then fight each other in the championship game. We will be using Tournament style rules for this and there are four arenas that will be used for the battles. Round One will be played in an hour. Competing teams must be back here with fifteen minutes to spare so that we can direct you to the correct arena. There will be a fifteen minute break in between each battle. Does everybody understand?"

There were nods around the crowd, most had been to these before.

"Good, remember teams to be back fifteen minutes before the first battle. Enjoy the tournament!"

* * *

><p>"He seemed friendly." Yang commented as the man finished up.<p>

"I would tend to agree." Sun replied as he looked around at all of his friends around him.

Half of the Vale teams were represented around him: RWBY, JNPR, SCAR, and BOLT were all walking together towards the food court.

"He did have a smile on his face." Tyger of Team BOLT added, licking his lips in anticipation as the smell of food got to him.

"Smiles do tend to indicate friendliness." Colton smiled menacingly. "Unless it's that kind of smile."

Everybody laughed and found themselves faced with the hardest decision they would encounter all day: Which restaurant they wanted to eat at.  
>"Let's put it to a vote." Sun said. "Anybody can nominate somewhere and anyone else can second the place. You can only vote once, so choose wisely."<p>

"YOVO!" Krystal yelled before being quickly shut up by the horde of friendly insults that were immediately thrown her way.

"Anyways, does anybody want to nominate anywhere?"

"Hot Dog Queen." Blade suggested.

"I second." Jaune added.

"Any more takers?" Sun glanced over the crowd in front of him before moving on. "Any other place?"

The group went through a list of restaurants before Sun gave up.

"Alright, anarchy rules, eat anywhere you want. Make sure someone saves tables for everyone else."

Everyone quickly scattered and they returned to eat together. The teams had ten minutes to eat before they were needed back at the arena.

"If we had decided on anarchy earlier, we would have had more time to eat." Krystal grumbled.

"Not our fault you're a slow eater." Blake replied with a smile.

"But- Oh never mind." Krystal continued walking with a huff, trying to imbue as much anger as possible into her stride.

"Hey Colton, go help your girlfriend, I'm sure she needs a sanity transplant." Yang laughed at her joke as the group made it to the arena/stage.

"Welcome back, which teams are you?" The apparently friendly man asked the group as they approached.

"Uh, let's see. We have SCAR, BOLT, RWBY, and JNPR from Vale here." Sun replied as he looked around at his friends.

"Hmm, RWBY is up for the first game on this arena against Team APPL. The rest of you are later on this arena."

"Thanks." Sun called up before turning to wish his friends luck. "Each team for himself now, good luck everyone."

"Good luck, unless you're playing us, then I hope you lose!" Nora yelled.

Sun moved from where he stood and walked over to Team RWBY, who were already hyping themselves up with a team hug.

"Hey, good luck. Knock 'em out of the park." He said as they untangled themselves.

"Will do." Ruby replied with a grin.

"Of course." Weiss tossed her head.

"You too." Blake said quietly.

"We'll beat the living-" Yang started before being jabbed in the side by Blake. "I might need that rib you just bruised, you know."

"Nah, you're here as the cheerleader anyways." Blake reached up and kissed her before turning her attention back to checking over her weapon.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>If you have any questions, check my profile or PM me. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881  
><strong>


	26. Chapter 26: Vytal Tournament Part 2

**Chapter 26: Vytal Tournament Part 2**

He crept forward, taking care to be silent. The rooftop was known to creak a lot if you didn't know what you were doing. The unstable beams could also collapse at any moment, but this didn't bother him. He moved quickly over the unsteady ground but slowed down as he made it to the edge of the roof. He stopped just before the point of showing himself and activated his Semblance. Anyone watching, and of which there were none, would have seen him disappear.

"Come in Alpha Two, can you read me?" Vayla came in over the headset he was wearing.

"Loud and clear, Secret Vayla." He replied in a slightly exasperated, but still very quiet, voice.

"Don't talk like that to me, know your place."

"I'm in position, why contact now?"

"There's been some interference for the past few minutes and this is the first possible second for me to."

"Whatever, I see her."

"Just wait, do not engage. All we want is information right now." "Copy."

He lowered the volume on the headset and adjusted his mic while waiting for the battle to commence. He wasn't interested in who won, but he wanted to see the way Blake fought. After all, the easiest way to beat an enemy is to know how they fight and detect weaknesses. He watched as his quarry took her place beside her teammates in the arena. A timer started counting down and he settled down to watch as it hit zero.

* * *

><p>The battle turned out to be a romp, APPL never had a chance against RWBY. This became apparent as soon as APPL was introduced into the arena. They look distinctly nervous at the prospect of fighting one of Beacon's top first year teams. It became even more apparent when RWBY started the match with a blazing sphere of attacks on the opponents. The battle was over in the space of five seconds and RWBY walked out with huge smiles on their faces.<p>

"That was easy." Yang commented, mildly annoyed that the fight had been so short.

"It was the first round, I'm sure we'll encounter some good teams later." Weiss said.

"I suppose so."

"I'm just excited we won!" Ruby exclaimed as they walked up to Sun.

"Great job." Sun clapped Ruby on the back and gestured for them to follow him.

"Where's everyone else?" Blake asked, looking around.

"They're getting ready to watch the battle between CELS and CPSL."

"Why is that specific battle so important?"

"Both teams are supposed to be really good, and they got unlucky enough to get paired in the first round."

"Sucks to be them." Yang laughed.

"You have no respect." Sun glanced sidelong at her with a frown.

"It increases our chances of winning if one of the big kahunas get taken out early."

"Nope." Blake interjected.

"Why wouldn't it?"

"Because we wouldn't have to fight either of them until the championship round." Weiss added.

"Oh."

"Exactly, but regardless of that, it'll still make for a very interesting round one fight." Sun said.

"Probably the only one." Yang thought back to the battle they had just competed in and shook her head in disgust.

Everyone agreed and the five of them continued the walk in companionable silence, aside from Yang's constant complaints about the distance between the arenas. As they approached the correct one, the cries of the crowd began to grow louder.

"Sounds like the people are really excited to see this one." Ruby said.

"Of course, Sun did say that it was an important battle." Weiss rolled her eyes at her sometimes incompetent girlfriend.

"Right." Ruby said with a small self-depreciating giggle.

They entered the stands and quickly saw the rest of their friends sitting in the reserved section.

"In what way are we important?" Yang wondered, looking at the seating arrangements.

"Those seats are for other competitors in the competition so they can watch battles without disturbance." Sun replied before catching sight of Krystal yelling down at the arena. "Unfortunately that doesn't include the teammates you have to sit beside."

Blake gave Yang another nudge and nodded meaningfully at Sun's statement. Yang frowned, before deciding that Blake didn't mean the jibe as anything but a joke.

Colton looked up as he heard the group approach.

"Hey." He said with a smile.

"Hey yourself, have they done anything yet?" Sun glanced anxiously at the arena.

"No, there was a delay and the competitors will be introduced here in a few minutes."

"Alright, any predictions on who will win?"

"CELK are the predicted winners, but anything can happen." Aurora answered as she was scanning the stands for other competitors. "By the way, when will any of us have to fight again?"

"HEAT and QUBE are up next for our arena, and each match is separated by a half hour. We won't have to fight for a while, but I think the next teams will be JNPR against BOLT."

"That'll be a good fight." Krystal said.

"That it will. Oh, I forgot to mention," Sun turned to RWBY. "You guys have to sit away from us, tournament rules."

"What?" Ruby asked, looking very confused.

"Teams can't sit by other teams while spectating, sorry."  
>"It's fine." Blake quickly grabbed Yang and jerked her head towards Ruby as she dragged her indignant girlfriend away.<p>

Weiss understood the hurried head motion and reached down for Ruby's hand. They followed Blake towards a section not taken up by anyone else and sat down.

"HOW DA-" Yang got no further, as Blake smothered the scream with a kiss.

"Shut up and enjoy the show."

* * *

><p>"Announcing Carson, Penelope, Sector, and Levi of Team CPSL!" The announcer shouted as the team walked out onto the field to uproarious applause and support.<p>

Carson wielded a large mace, Penelope a Spatha, Sector a multitude of glaives, and Levi had a large stick.

The announcer waited for the crowd to calm down before continuing. The problem with that was the crowd didn't want to shut up, so he decided to try to speak over them.

"And now announcing Chase, Ethan, Liz, and Seven of Team CELS." The crowd had died down while he was speaking and they now let themselves be heard as CELS walked out onto the opposite end of the arena.

Chase held two short submachine guns, Ethan had a sniper rifle, Liz held dual chakrams, and Seven wielded a sword.

The two teams took their places and prepared for the coming fight as the crowd continued to roar around them. The announcer said a few more things and then the timer began to count down. The noise quieted down as it continued to decrease in value until it was silent. Everyone was waiting in anticipation for the battle and every child that cried out was quickly and nicely told to shut up.

Three. Two. One. Zero.

Chase launched himself and his team in the air with a giant spout of water and Seven created vines to provide a zip line back down to the ground. The team landed in the middle of the arena, where CPSL had run to at the beginning of the match. Three of Team CELS descended out of the sky towards them and engaged in hand to hand combat, but there was one piece of the puzzle missing. While CPSL was the better of the two teams in close quarters combat, CELS had the advantage of Liz's Semblance. Liz was able to quickly asses the situation and come up with a way to counteract issues faster than most. Essentially, she was a tactical genius who had talented teammates that could capitalize on whatever advantage she gave them. This came in handy now as she stealthily moved her way through the boulders on her way to the center of the arena. She was the missing puzzle piece. While CPSL assumed that all four of CELS had gone up on that first spout of water, Liz had stayed grounded and hid behind a rock. The water and vines had been a ploy to distract CPSL from where a sneak attack would come from. Liz decided to trade a little stealth for speed and switched from crouching to lightly running towards CPSL. CELS had been giving ground to the point where all of Team CPSL had their back turned to the point Liz was approaching from. As Liz got within a few meters, Levi seemed to hear something and turned around to see what was behind his team. He shouted in surprise and his team rotated to face the new threat. As they were momentarily distracted, the rest of Team CELS charged forward and focused their attention on one person who had been slower to turn around before. That unlucky person happened to be Carson and his aura took the full brunt of the attack. His aura depleted to the red zone and the match was called.

* * *

><p>"We have to fight them?" Jaune asked as everyone walked out.<p>

"Only if we both get to the championship game." Pyrrha replied soothingly.

"And to do that, you have to beat us first." Blade said with a small smirk.

"That's right." Tyger agreed, puffing out his chest.

Pyrrha just rolled her eyes and cast a sidelong glance at Ren, who was walking hand in hand with Nora. Pyrrha raised her eyebrow as if to ask "You two ready?" and Ren nodded, he and Nora were both excited to be fighting.

"Shouldn't be too hard!" Nora said in her usual loud manner.

BOLT took the challenge with a smile and led the way back to Vale's assigned arena.

"We need some moving walkways here." Yang complained.

"No, what we need here is duct tape." Blake smiled and reached into her pack. "Luckily, I never leave home without it."

She pulled out a roll and peeled off a piece. Yang's eyes widened as Blake brought the tape closer to her mouth and started to back away. Blake shoved Yang mid step so that she was off balance and tumbled to the ground. Blake pounced and placed a corner of the tape on Yang before throwing it aside. Yang started to ask what that was about before Blake brought her lips to Yang's and into a deep kiss.

"Anything to keep you on your toes." Blake said as they both stood up.

Yang gave her a wry smile before noticing the faces of their friends around them. They were all either laughing or all too obviously trying not to laugh. She shook her head in disgust and started forward again.

"You guys might miss your fight if you don't stop gawking." She said, and the others hurried to follow her.

They made it to the arena and JNPR and BOLT split off to get ready for the battle. The rest made their way into the reserved portion of the stands and sat down.

"This should be good." Sun commented as he reclined in his seat, ready to see which of his friends would emerge victorious.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>If you have any questions, check my profile or PM me. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881  
><strong>


	27. Chapter 27: Vytal Tournament Part 3

**Chapter 27: Vytal Tournament Part 3  
><strong>

"How did she do?" Vayla asked.

"She did fine, but I didn't get a very good picture of her fighting style." He replied.

"Why not?" Vayla edged forward in her seat and glared into his eyes.

"The battle took no more than a few seconds, _that's_why." His voice had an edge to it.

"So you're saying that you'll need more time to study her." Vayla rolled her eyes skyward and looked around.

They were in the regular warehouse, where the three remaining members of Team SEAL were still hanging from the ceiling. The place was mostly dark, but sunlight shone through the windows that were not covered. As she heard him start to take breath to reply, she brought her gaze back down to rest on his face.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." His voice continued to have an edge, and Vayla decided it was probably a good time to back off.

"Alright," She said in a conciliatory tone. "Just tell me when you will be ready."

"Will do." He said with a smirk.

He walked out, grabbing his crossbow and dull purple wide-brimmed hat as he did so.

* * *

><p>"I don't know if I can do this." Jaune said dejectedly, looking down at his feet.<p>

"Of course you can." Pyrrha laid a hand on his shoulder and smiled encouragingly.

"But what if I mess up?"

"Then don't worry about it, everyone messes up at some point in their life."

"Not you."

Pyrrha started in surprise. She hadn't been expecting him to bring the conversation around too her, but she now saw a good chance to drive home her point.

"That's not true, I've made many mistakes. Chief among them is my sister."

"What about her?" Jaune's voice betrayed the glimmer of hope he was beginning to feel.

"I did so many terrible things to her, and I was never there for her when she needed me."

Jaune looked at the red head beside him and moved forward to hug her.

"But this isn't about me," She continued. "This is about you, and how you can lead us to victory."

"I don't mean to interrupt, but the announcer just called the other team." Ren called as he grabbed Nora's hand.

"Right, let's dance." Pyrrha stood up and strode over to Ren and Nora with Jaune in tow.

The four walked out together as they heard the announcer call their name, and Pyrrha gave Jaune's hand one last squeeze of confidence.

* * *

><p>"Announcing Blade, Omega, Lance, and Tyger of Team BOLT!" Colton heard the announcer yell over the microphone and he saw BOLT walk out and wave to the crowd.<p>

"And now announcing Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren from Team JNPR!" Colton again watched as more of his friends walked to the side of the arena.

The two teams stood across from each other and waited for the clock to begin counting down. Said clock obliged and a number ten was projected onto the floor of the arena, which was quickly followed by a nine. Everyone in the stadium held their breath as they watched in anticipation while the numbers continued to decrease. The competitors tensed up and shot forward when the number hit zero. The teams met in the middle and each person found themselves fighting in a one on one scenario. Jaune and Lance hacked with their swords and Jaune blocked with his shield. Pyrrha and Omega were both finding out what it was like to go up against a good spearwoman. Blade and Ren were engaged in a classic knife fight, except where one person has the benefits of guns as well. While all this was happening, Tyger had been planning on how to defeat Nora and her rocket launcher/hammer. He decided the best way to do it was to not fight her at all but instead use his claws to help one of his teammates before she could actually do anything. He rushed over to the person he decided needed the most help. This person happened to be Blade. Ren was quickly fighting a very defensive battle against a man with two knives and a man with two claws. He called out to Nora to help him but in doing so took a hit from one of Blade's knives. Nora saw Ren in trouble and leaped high in the air. She used Magnhild to plummet back down to earth and saw Ren jump out of the way before she hit. She was a few meters away from hitting the ground when the announcer called an end to the battle. She adjusted her flight stance to hit the ground on her feet and took a quick look around at what had happened. Pyrrha was breathing hard and congratulating Omega. Ren was walking towards her. Jaune was on the ground with Lance reaching down to help him up. She checked her scroll and noted with disappointment that Jaune's aura had fallen into the red.

"Good job, I thought we had them." Ren said as he got to her.

They both looked to where Jaune was standing and walked over to him. They watched as Pyrrha got to him first and hugged him.

"You really held your own there." She whispered into his ear.

"But I still lost." He mumbled, looking down.

"That's not important, what is important is what's happening tonight in our hotel room." Pyrrha gave him a devious smile before turning away to walk out with everyone else.

"And what would that be?" He called out as he started to follow her.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out." Pyrrha threw over her shoulder.

* * *

><p>"Good fight all around, both of you." Sun said, smiling at all of his friends.<p>

"Yeah, but we lost." Jaune replied, voice still with a slight hint of unhappiness in it.

"You all did quite well out there." Blake chimed in, seeing that they weren't going to listen to one person.

"I'm absolutely starving, when do we eat?" Nora asked.

Sun glanced at his scroll and made a decision.

"We have roughly an hour before the match between us and CRDL starts, but we have to be back early."

"So we can go eat while you stay here." Nora was already skipping away happily.

"I guess so, but I wanna eat too." Krystal pouted as she watched everyone else follow Nora.

"We'll eat later, but for now, let's prepare." Sun turned his attention to the chart that he had laid out on the table.

The chart had a list of the weapons, Semblances, and fighting styles of all of the Vale teams competing in the tournament. As Sun scanned the chart, his eyes brushed over Blake's, Pyrrha's, and Omega's. He finally stopped on Team CRDL and he studied the multiple stats of the four bullies.

"If we fight them with this plan-"

* * *

><p>Half an hour later they found themselves in the waiting room with a plan in mind. They all knew that CRDL liked to get up close and personal immediately so they could use their brute force to win the battle quickly. What SCAR had decided to do was simply attack from a distance using their many available resources. Krystal would have Toxid in Sniper Mode and lay down covering fire to give the rest of SCAR a chance to find rocks around the arena to hide behind. Then Aurora would distract them, giving Krystal a chance to find a rock of her own to hide behind. After they were set up, they would randomly pop out of cover and attack CRDL from long range. Then another would do the same thing as the first went back behind the rock and the process would continue. With any luck, CRDL would be angry every time somebody attacked them and they would constantly try to find where the last person had hit them from.<p>

"Any questions about the plan?" Sun asked as he looked around at his teammates.

"Uh, what if they split up?" Colton asked.

"Then that makes everything easier, but I don't want to have to resort to that. I want to humiliate them by trying the plan first, but if that fails, then we can take them in one on one combat."

"Got it." The three others said.

"And in the event they decide to rush one spot regardless of other attacks?" Aurora asked.

"Then you and Krystal will launch a full scale long range attack, unless one of you is the one getting attacked. In that case, only the person who is free will attack. Any more questions?" Sun glanced at his scroll again and noted that the battle would begin soon.

"Nope." Krystal replied.

"Good, I wonder if everyone ate their food and got back in time." Sun smirked and led his team to the door to the arena.

"Let's do this." Aurora cocked Scandiv and they all listened closely for the announcer to call them out.

* * *

><p>"Announcing Cardin, Russel, Dove, and Sky of Team CRDL!" The announcer shouted and the four bullies strutted onto the arena floor.<p>

"Announcing Sun, Colton, Aurora, and Krystal of Team SCAR!" He continued and the crowd went wild as SCAR walked out onto the arena confidently.

The timer began counting down and Sun saw determination on his teammates' faces that mirrored his own. The timer struck zero and SCAR, minus Krystal, quickly made their way towards the rocks they had chosen earlier. Krystal brought Toxid up and started unloading rounds into CRDL, forcing them to take their attention off of the other three. They continued forward on a path towards Krystal before they were blown back by an explosion. Cardin looked around and saw Aurora showing herself from behind her rock. He led the charge there and was stopped by arrows this time. They turned and saw Krystal again firing on them, this time with her bow. This continued for a while as Sun and Colton started distracting them as well. The stands were ablaze with laughter and this spurred CRDL to make even worse decisions. They ended up huddled in the middle, using the two shields to protect them from oncoming projectiles. SCAR slowly moved forwards until eventually they were all positioned behind rocks bordering the small clearing CRDL had holed themselves up in. Sun nodded to Colton and watched as Colton charged headlong at the knot in the middle of the clearing. CRDL turned to face him and Sun advanced stealthily from behind them. Colton made it to the middle and dodged the mace swing Cardin had aimed at him. Colton jumped and used the shield as a springboard, backflipping through the air until he was a few meters away. CRDL moved forward slowly to intercept him but were bombarded by arrows on one side and explosive rounds on the other. All of these proved very distracting and Sun made it right behind the group of cowards. He looked over the shoulder of Dove and noted that Sky had the lowest aura left. Colton charged again and CRDL tensed up to receive the attack. Just as Colton made contact with another shield, Sun darted around Dove and swung his staff into Sky. Sky's aura went down into the red as he was thrown to the ground. The match was called and SCAR walked out victoriously. They only left a dejected and humiliated CRDL behind as they passed under the arch leading out.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>If you have any questions, check my profile or PM me. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881  
><strong>


	28. Chapter 28: Intermission

**Chapter 28: Intermission**

He activated his Semblance, for he was getting close to the arena. He crept forward slowly. While he might be invisible, he could still alert others by noise. He took great caution as he moved over the cobblestones like a wraith. He paused and looked around. A few random pedestrians, a competing team, and a huge group of people walking from the stadium. He quickly identified Blake in the group and set out to follow. A memory was trying to surface, but he held it back. He was sure he recognized someone else in the group, but he was not sure in the slightest. He dropped back a bit so he wouldn't be heard and contacted Vayla.

"Secret Vayla, come in."

"Read you, Alpha Two."

"Can you compile a list of everyone in the group of friends that Blake surrounds herself with?"

"I can, but- What's this?" Vayla asked as an image popped up on her screen.

"A picture of everyone here, I might know someone here."

"Why would you think that?"

"I just know, get me that list."

He cut the link and sped up to regain the distance he had lost. He had the sudden urge to go up and try to blend in with them, but he knew it would never work. He mentally berated himself for even thinking such a thing. He was an assassin, and not a very joyous one anymore. He remembered the years before he had met Vayla. He had been a very nice and happy boy then, but now everything had changed. First, his brother had abandoned him and his mother and left them to die. Then Vayla had appeared when he was weakest, as if she had been waiting forever. Now, he was just a grim and taciturn sixteen year old assassin.

"I've got the list, transferring it to your equipment now." Vayla came in over the radio.

"Copy, thanks."

He continued following for the moment but his attention was suddenly distracted by the list appearing on the screen that was attached to the back of his crossbow. He quickly scanned the list and stopped on one name. He glanced up to make sure he wasn't imagining things. He picked out the one that he had recognized and looked back at the screen. He knew that one, and he knew that he might have to make sure that he didn't bring harm to it. He started to feel the effects of his aura running low and he veered off into the trees, not noticed by anybody.

* * *

><p>"I still can't believe we did that." Krystal exclaimed as they made it to their destination.<p>

"I agree." Aurora replied with a slight smile.

Sun swiped the card and they all stepped into their hotel room for the night. It was very spacious and it had two double beds in the middle. There was a TV on the wall across from them and a minibar next to the doorway. As everyone piled in, they noted the very clean bathroom, complete with shower, bath, toilet, and two sinks. The room had the smell of fresh roses and the walls were colored to match the scent, a warm shade of lightish red.

"This is a place I could get used to." Colton immediately flopped down onto one of the beds and sighed happily.

"Make yourselves at home, we have this place for a few days." Sun smiled and quickly excused himself to the bathroom.

Aurora watched him leave and she turned her attention to the minibar. It had wine racks, beer taps, and a giant fridge complete with every kind of soft drink imaginable.

"Hey Sun!" She called.

"Yeah?" Came the reply from the bathroom.

"Can we drink the stuff in the fridge?"

"Sure! It's on the academy!"

Aurora, satisfied, turned her attention back to the numerous options available to her. She picked out a Mountain Dew Voltage and turned to everyone else.

"What kind of drinks do you guys want?"

"Beer!" Krystal yelled before bursting out laughing.

"I'll take a Mountain Dew Code Red." Sun called from the bathroom.

"Give me a Diet Coke." Colton said.

"No beer? Fine, give me a regular Coke. How do you drink Diet anyway?" Krystal asked Colton.

"I'm used to it." Colton replied as he caught the two Cokes and handed the regular to Krystal.

Aurora tossed Sun his Mountain Dew as he came out of the bathroom and they flopped down on their bed together. Sun picked up the TV remote and turned it on.

"Check ESsPeN, see if any of us made it." Colton suggested as he finally reclined back on the bed he shared with Krystal.

The four watched as highlights of the first round flashed up on screen in ten second intervals. With so many matches taking place, it was hard to dedicate much time to each. The only match that got more time was the CELS vs. CPSL fight, which got a good minute of screen time. At the end of the show, the updated tournament bracket was shown and the announcer started going down a list of matches for the next day.

"For the first side: RWBY vs. HEAT. BOLT vs. SCAR. RAIN vs. TANK. CYCL vs. FYLS. For the second side: RAGE vs. RPGS. KAPA vs. THTA. CELS vs. DARK. CASL vs. FAIL. Good luck to all of the teams competing in the second round. Thank you for watching, and good night."

Sun shut off the TV and glanced at the clock. It read 12:38 AM and he looked at Colton and Krystal, who were fast asleep in each other's arms. He turned off the light beside him and hugged the sleeping Aurora he had in his arms. He could faintly hear a ruckus coming from the direction of JNPR's room but he decided he didn't want to know what was going on. Even with the noise, it didn't take long for him to fall asleep.

* * *

><p>Blake woke up the next morning to a weird sense of deja vu. Her vision consisted of one color: Yellow. She was trying to figure out where she had seen this situation before when the yellow blob moved slightly. Blake looked around Yang to see the clock, she fell back with a sigh as she realized she wouldn't be able to see over the mane of hair Yang had.<p>

"Wake up." Blake whispered as she shook Yang's shoulder.

"But mom, it's Saturday. Just let me sleep." Yang mumbled back.

This stopped Blake cold as she tried to refrain from laughing.

"That is the most cliche thing to say in this situation." As Blake finished her sentence, she shoved Yang off the bed and quickly pounced.

Yang woke up to Blake's kiss gracing her lips and decided that today would be a good day.

"Good morning beautiful." She said with a smile.

"Good morning, today's a big day, you know." Blake replied, making no effort to lift herself off of Yang.

"How is it any different than yesterday?" Yang asked.

"Because I have something special planned if we beat HEAT." Blake pecked Yang again and finally rolled off.

Yang smiled as she thought about how much Blake had changed since the creation of RWBY. Blake had become more secure with her feelings and was generally more outgoing. Sure it was only with a few select people, but that still was more than before. Yang's pondering was interrupted as she realized that she had been staring at Blake for an extended time.

"Done looking?" Blake was smiling with her eyebrow raised to the moon.

"Uh, yeah." Yang quickly averted her eyes and hurried off to change into her battle gear.

Blake rolled her eyes and, still smiling, started to make breakfast for the rest of them in the kitchenette. She looked around the room and saw Weiss and Ruby snuggled up in their bed still.

'Gonna have to wake them up soon.' She thought. 'But I don't want to interrupt them.'

The issue resolved itself when Ruby's keen nose smelled the pancakes that were cooking on the skillet.

"Something smells good." She commented as she tried to rouse the sleeping bundle in her arms.

"Decided to make breakfast this morning for us." Blake replied as she poured more batter into the pan. "How did you two sleep?"

"Great." Weiss answered, rubbing her eyes.

"That's good, we'll need our rest for-" Blake was cut off by the loud sound of Yang slamming the bathroom door.

"That smell is amazing!" She rushed into the kitchenette and gave Blake a quick hug before grabbing one of the pancakes from the plate.

"You know what's better than the smell?" Blake moved closer to Yang as she asked the question.

"What?" Yang asked through a mouthful of pancakes.

"The taste." Blake leaned in for a passionate kiss and Yang responded enthusiastically.

"You guys done? We want to be able to grab a pancake." Weiss said with a grin on her face.

"Go ahead." Yang made an exaggerated gesture of moving away from the pancake plate.

"This will be a good day." Blake rolled her eyes and continued with the pancakes.

* * *

><p>The four teams met up an hour later at the arena. RWBY looked determined and ready for the fight, BOLT and SCAR were chatting about their chances of beating each other, Nora and Ren were talking excitedly about something, and Pyrrha was constantly glancing over at Jaune. He still hadn't recovered from the fun they had had last night.<p>

'The look on his face is priceless.' She thought with a smile.

Indeed, Jaune was pretty shaken up by the night he and Pyrrha had enjoyed. Just thinking about it brought a blush to his face, which was probably why Pyrrha was looking at him so much.

"You guys sure you're ready?" Sun asked Blake as they arrived at the arena.

"Of course!" Yang barged in and responded.

"We're fine." Blake smiled and gave Sun a hug.

RWBY walked off to the entrance for competitors, taking the complaints from Yang about Blake hugging Sun with them. Sun looked back at the remaining hunters and led them up into the stands to watch.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>If you have any questions, check my profile or PM me. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881  
><strong>


	29. Chapter 29: Vytal Tournament Part 4

**Chapter 29: Vytal Tournament Part 4  
><strong>

He looked up as he walked through the door to the warehouse. He looked around and saw Vayla standing in the back with someone else. He approached them and Vayla turned around as he got close.

"Hello again." She said.

"Who's the new guy?" He said with his usual directness.

"This, is Adam." Vayla gestured to the newcomer.

"Hello." Adam held out his hand for a handshake.

"Hi." He replied guardedly, ignoring the outstretched hand.

Vayla looked at the two boys and quickly continued.

"Adam is helping with my prisoners." She gestured to a large wall of circuitry in the back.

"In what way can those three be of use?" He eyed the chambers that each of the remaining members of Team SEAL inhabited.

"Brainwashing." Adam stepped up to the computer monitor and pushed a few icons.

Archer suddenly came alive and Adam said something into the microphone. Archer responded in turn and Adam put him back to sleep.

"As you can see," Adam said. "We can fully control all three of them and make them do whatever we want them to."

"This can be just what we need to get Blake." Vayla failed to notice the small start Adam emitted at the name.

"This is about Blake?" Adam asked.

"Of course, we need the money." He replied before deferring to Vayla.

"Have you not seen the bounty that's out for her? You're one of the White Fang's top agents." Vayla asked curiously.

"I've seen them, but I haven't wanted to act on them." Adam replied with a sigh.

"Why not?"

"Blake used to be a personal friend of mine, and I don't want any harm to come to her."  
>"Well you might have to on this mission, remember your potential pay cut after this. So are you with us or not?"<p>

Adam took a deep breath and let it out before answering. He let his gaze swing around to SEAL, Vayla, and the other guy, before resting on the determined face of Vayla again.

"Fine, let's do it."

* * *

><p>"I hope this battle will be harder than the last one." Yang pulled a face as she remembered Team APPL's performance against them in the first round.<p>

"I'm sure they will, dear." Blake mimicked the tone of a teacher berating a six year old.

"I'm sure they'll be tough, but we will come off as heroes." Ruby was bouncing up and down, getting ready for the battle ahead.

"I still think you should at least try to express some sort of tactical approach to this fight." Weiss said disapprovingly as she watched Ruby.

"The 'tactical approach', as you called it, is run at them and beat the living daylights out of them." Yang replied, cracking her knuckles for emphasis.

Weiss just rolled her eyes and checked the clock, noting that they had five minutes. Yang noted the lack of bossiness in her voice and imperceptibly nodded approvingly. Unbeknownst to all but Blake, Yang had been keeping a running check of Weiss to see if she was worthy of her sister. Yang was very pleased with how Weiss had been treating Ruby lately, so they had no reason to fight. But the first time Weiss slipped up majorly, Yang had promised herself that she could yell at Weiss all she wanted. But only then, and Weiss was slowly gaining the trust of the blonde.

"The announcer just checked his mic, we should get out there." Weiss stood up, still unaware of the close scrutiny she was being subjected to.

"Let's do this!" Ruby yelled.

* * *

><p>"Announcing Hailey Shaze, Evan Nelson, Alyssa Vont, and Trevor Callice of Team HEAT!" The four walked out onto the arena wielding their weapons with ease.<p>

Hailey had a chrome Desert Eagle, Evan a pair of samurai swords, Alyssa a scythe, and Trevor had a cannon strapped to his back, not unlike Predator. The crowd roared for them and they waved in acknowledgement.

"Announcing Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long of Team RWBY!" The crowd went mental as the four colorful girls graced the arena.

Both teams took their places and the competitors crouched down into their battle stance, waiting for the timer to strike zero. The crowd helped by counting down along with the timer while growing louder and louder as it neared the start.

At zero, Ruby and Trevor started exchanging explosive rounds at each other, each intent on distracting the other from the rest of the fight. Weiss gave Ruby the advantage in the battle by using her glyph to send her into the air, giving Ruby the added benefit of a larger target than the silhouette of another person. Another advantage was that Trevor had a hard time of tilting the cannon on his back to the right position to fire into the sky. As Ruby flew up and over him, he tried to lean back to continue watching her and ended up on his back like a turtle. Through all of this, Blake and Yang had advanced together towards the rest of HEAT. Yang, seeing Trevor flailing about on the ground, used one of Blake's clones as a push-off point and used Ember Celica to blast herself in his direction. As she made it to him, she swung a punch that had the power to take his head off. Her fist hit the ground where he had been laying a moment before and sunk into a depression that had just appeared. She paused for a second to try to comprehend what had just happened and started trying to escape. That second cost her as Hailey shot her multiple times with her Deagle. Yang's aura decreased into the yellow and she finally used Ember Celica to shoot the ground, propelling her out and away. She was aided by the distracting sight of Ruby charging at Hailey. Ruby continued to deflect shots as she made her way over to Hailey, but she was stopped quickly by Alyssa and her scythe. Hailey let out a sigh of relief as she watched the two move away from her. This relief was dispelled when the cry for help from Evan reached her. She turned and saw Weiss and Blake whaling on him from all directions. She used her Semblance to create two fists out of the dirt and dust and used them to create a moving wall around Evan. She checked her scroll and saw that his aura was teetering on the brink of red.

'He'll be the problem, I have to protect him.' She thought.

She started towards him, not knowing that Evan would not be the one to lose the battle for them. In her haste to protect him, she failed to notice Yang sneaking up behind her. Yang aimed a punch at her and she went down. Hailey's aura fell to the red and the match was called in favor of Team RWBY.

* * *

><p>"That was intense." Sun breathed a sigh of relief as he watched his four friends raising their hands high in victory.<p>

"I'll say." Colton replied.

"It was crazy!" Krystal called from her snuggling position on Colton's lap.

Aurora rolled her eyes and followed the group as they met up with BOLT and JNPR and descended the stairs to meet up with RWBY. They met up a minute later at the entrance to the arena and exchanged stories about the battle.

"That team was hard." Ruby panted, still out of breath from fighting Alyssa. "I've never gone up against another scythe fighter before."

"You did well." Weiss gave her a quick hug and her face quickly blended in with Ruby's cloak.

Yang started laughing but got a jab in her side, brought to her by Blake.  
>"Just remember what you fought for." Blake whispered.<p>

"You?" Yang asked.

"I meant the tournament, but that's very nice of you." Blake replied sarcastically, but inside she was excited that Yang would think of her first.

The group set off for the food court, leaving a suspicious looking person behind them. The person began following them, making sure to not be caught. The person stuck with them all the way to the food court, where he watched as Sun tried to figure out where to eat.

"So does anybody have suggestions on where the group should eat?" Sun asked, already knowing the first thing that would be suggested.

"Anarchy Reigns!" Tyger yelled as he made a mad dash to the nearest restaurant.

"Go grab your food." Sun dejectedly sat down to save the tables and put his head in his hands.

Blake sidled up beside him and gave him a quick hug before going off to join Yang in the pursuit of food. He had been there five minutes and the tables were starting to fill up with his friends when somebody tapped his shoulder. He turned around and almost jumped out of his chair.

"Hello, mind if we sit with you guys?" Hailey of Team HEAT asked.

"Uh, not at all, find yourself a seat." Sun gestured at the many empty tables.

"Thanks, we're interested to see how you guys handle going up against BOLT." Evan said. "You know, after what you did to CRDL."

"We won't try to humiliate them, if that's what you're asking. I'm good friends with them."

"Still, it should prove fun to watch." Alyssa chimed in, before following Hailey over to an empty table.

Sun watched them take their seats and arrange food plans for them.

'Of course, they can organize an eating arrangement.' He thought bitterly.

"What's wrong with you?" Krystal asked as she sat down.

"Nothing, just anxious for the battle ahead." He replied with a false smile.

"All right, the other two should be here soon, they got caught up in a line."

The two waited in relative silence for the other two members to arrive and finally Aurora sat down with Colton.

"Aren't you eating?" She asked, looking concerned for him.

"What? Oh, right." Sun reacted like it was the first time he had realized he hadn't gotten food. "I'll get it now."

He stood up and escaped to the first restaurant he saw, leaving his friends confused as to what was troubling him.

"Did he seem off to you guys?" Aurora asked.

"You noticed it too?" Colton replied.

"Yeah, he seems sort of down." Krystal added with a frown.

"Any clue as to why?" Aurora glanced at Sun, who was silently advancing in the line.

"Anarchy?" Krystal suggested.

"No." Aurora fixed a glare on Krystal and she backed off. "It's something else."

"The battle ahead?" Colton added.

"He's never that bad before a battle. What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know, what _is_ wrong with me? That's the question." Sun said sarcastically as he sat down at the table.

"We're concerned for you." Aurora reached out and took one of his hands.

"If you must know, it's because I think we're being watched."

"What?"

"I noticed it when Michael started talking in my head again. He hasn't been doing that very much lately and it immediately put me on edge. Do you see that guy over there?" Sun nodded his head almost imperceptibly in the direction of the man that had followed them from the arena.

Aurora had the good sense not to turn her head immediately to look at the man Sun had indicated. Instead, she used her eyes and scanned the crowd around her.

"I see him." She muttered.

"He's followed us for a while, yesterday too."

"Can we do anything about it?"

"Not yet, except for keep an eye on him."

"Well, we can't worry about it now, we have a battle soon."

"I agree, let's go get ready for it."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>If you have any questions, check my profile or PM me. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881  
><strong>


	30. Chapter 30: Vytal Tournament Part 5

**Chapter 30: Vytal Tournament Part 5**

Adam walked through the crowd with stealth, taking great care to not be recognized. He turned a corner and watched as Team SCAR made their way through the archway for competitors.

"Come in Mongy Wimp Foggler." Vayla's voice reached him through the earpiece.

"I read you Secret Vayla." He replied as he took cover in the bushes that surrounded the arena.

"Can you get into the crowd without being detected by any of Blake's friends?"

"I can try, can you get me an overhead picture so I can see where they are?"

"Give me a sec to get the drone in position."

Vayla muted her mic and Adam moved forwards through the greenery again. He broke into the open and quickly slipped onto the track, trying to look as discreet as possible.

"Sending the picture now." Vayla said as an image popped up on Adam's screen.

"Thanks." Adam scanned the picture and adjusted his path accordingly.

He would enter through section D, then make his way to an empty seat. This put him close enough to the other teams to easily follow them but far enough away for them not to notice him.

"Where did Alpha Two go?" He asked as he sat down.

"He's on a little errand that he decided he needed to go on, he will be back by the time we make our move." Vayla replied.

"Good. No injuries, right? Just like we promised."

"No injuries, enjoy the show."

* * *

><p>"Announcing Sun Wukong, Colton Canius, Aurora Hirosaki, and Krystal Rain of Team SCAR!"<p>

"And now announcing Blade Edge, Omega Aegea, Lance Vance, and Tyger Notyad of Team BOLT!"

The eight fighters walked out onto the arena floor and surveyed the area around them. The field still had all the boulders scattered around the map and each team was deciding whether to use them or not. Eventually the clock started the countdown and they got into their battle stances.

The clock struck zero and Sun and Colton rushed Team BOLT while Krystal hung back and shot arrows to slow BOLT down. Aurora ran to the middle and placed several claymores in a protective circle around her. This was quickly followed by another, smaller circle of C4 inside. She drew Scandiv and started helping Krystal with the long range fire.

BOLT split up and had Tyger and Blade rush Sun and Colton. The four engaged in a close range battle and Sun very quickly found out that he had the wrong weapon for the occasion. He switched to Gunchaku mode and continued the assault.

Meanwhile, Omega and Lance had run around the arena on opposite sides before cutting into the middle. Krystal had leaped into the protective circle of explosives with Aurora and they both started raining fire on them. Omega threw her spear just as Lance made it within range of the explosives and the blast sent the spear hurtling into the air. Krystal and Aurora flew straight up while Lance was sent flying backwards by the explosion. Lance's aura dropped into orange territory and he quickly hid behind a convenient rock.

Omega watched as Krystal and Aurora landed in front of her, both with their weapons trained on her. She looked up and saw her spear falling back towards the ground a few meters to the left of Aurora and Krystal. She maneuvered sideways slightly, causing Krystal to walk straight into the spear's path when she moved to circle as well. Omega made her move as soon as the spear struck and activated her Semblance around Aurora.

Suddenly, multiple ice shards appeared and started embedding themselves in Aurora. Omega ran forward and grabbed her spear from beside a dazed Krystal and went on the attack. She wore down their aura until they were both into the yellow before Aurora was able to stick a semtex to her. She retreated while trying to pull the explosive off, but this only succeeded in taking her away from the only was she could have dealt damage to an enemy. Krystal would have been thrown into the red if the explosive had been anywhere near her and Aurora knew she had taken a risk with it.

Unfortunately, Sun had chosen that exact time to jump back out of the way of one of Blade's knives. He and Colton had been steadily pushed back until they were only a few meters away from the middle, where the other three were fighting. Sun was caught in the subsequent explosion and his aura also depleted into the yellow. Colton watched as his three teammates, all with one hit left, were cornered by Omega and Blade. He looked back to Tyger in time to get knocked back far by Tyger's claw. As he was flying, he saw Lance hiding behind a rock.

Lance was watching his three teammates advance slowly on Sun, Krystal, and Aurora. Colton sprinted to him and started a swing with Amber, but Lance had brought his sword up just in time to block it. The two engaged in desperate combat as Lance's teammates began their attack on Colton's teammates. Lance was winded already and Colton had the advantage of two weapons versus Lance's one. This led to Colton finally gaining the other hand and knocking Lance to the ground. Colton raised Ember for the final blow and brought it down, taking Lance's aura into the red. Colton glanced over to his teammates and saw all of them on the ground with Omega poised above, ready to bring her spear down on one of them. He breathed a sigh of relief, he had won just in time.

* * *

><p>The next morning, everyone rushed to the arena to see when the quarter final battles were taking place that day. As they walked up, the announcer started with the lineups.<p>

"On Arena One, we will have RWBY vs. SCAR at twelve. On Arena Two, we will have TANK vs. CYCL at two. On Arena Three, we will have RPGS vs. THTA at two. On Arena Four, we will have CELS vs. FAIL at twelve."

"Alright, we got two hours before we fight. What should we do?" Sun asked.

"EAT!" A couple people yelled.

Sun sighed and started trudging his way to the food court.

"I don't think it matters what the others are doing." Aurora whispered as she walked up beside him.

"And why would that be?" Sun asked in a dejected voice.

"Because I have a surprise for you."

Sun raised his eyebrows but followed without resistance.

"Alright, watch out for anyone. We may have been followed." Aurora glanced around before sitting down on a tree stump.

"Is there a meaning for this?"

"I was planning on bringing you out here for some fresh air and a fun time, but…" She let the sentence hang as she detected a movement in the tree in front of her.

"What is it?" Sun whispered.

"I just saw movement in the tree behind you." She replied in the same quiet voice before switching to a louder one. "But yeah, I wanted to bring you out here so that we could have some time together."

Sun immediately caught on to what she was doing and responded in turn.

"Well that's very nice of you to think of that."

"I thought it was cool," Aurora called before changing voices again. "I want you to stand up and block his view of me."

"How?"

"Stand up and hug me, then I can maneuver you to the correct position."

Sun did so and Aurora, once satisfied that the intruder's view was blocked, pulled out Scandiv.

"Get ready for a big bang." She said as she pushed him out of the way and shot.

An explosion appeared right where Aurora had seen the movement and birds shot out of the trees at the sudden noise.

"Let's get him." Aurora sprinted forward and disappeared into the brush that hadn't been mutilated in the explosion.

Sun waited for a count of three before she returned with a very familiar looking figure.

"Anybody you know?" Aurora asked as she threw the man down on the ground.

"It's Archer." Sun bent down and rolled him onto his back so he could get a better look at Archer's face.

"Exactly, but how is he here?" Aurora took another brief glance around and she caught a blink of green light. "Wait here."

She moved to where she had seen it and saw it flash again. This time she was able to make out what the light was attached to, and she gasped. There was a pipe throwing out poisonous fumes in the direction of the clearing.

"Sun! Grab Archer, we're leaving!" Aurora yelled as she ran back to the clearing.

"What is it?" Sun asked, grabbing the unconscious Archer and turning to run with her.

"Poisonous gas." She replied shortly as they made it back to the arena area.

"That was close."

"I'll say." Aurora started to turn away when she heard Sun grunt behind her.

She quickly turned and saw Archer escaping with Sun on the ground gasping.

"Sun!" She knelt down beside him and helped him up.

"Did anybody get the license plate number of that truck?" A still dazed Sun asked.

Despite what had just happened, Aurora laughed and helped Sun to the food court.

"Will you be okay?" Aurora asked as she sat Sun down at one of the numerous tables scattered around the food court.

"I'll be fine, how long until the fight?" He asked breathlessly.

"We should be fine but… Wait, where is everyone?"

"Oh no, they've already gone to the arena."

"Let's get over there, _now_."

It took them less than a minute to run over to the arena, but they knew the announcer could call them any minute.

"Glad you could make it." Colton said wryly as Sun and Aurora walked into the prep room.  
>"Vayla's here again." Sun said briefly as he sat down to catch his breath.<p>

Colton and Krystal raised their eyebrows in shock but Aurora quickly cut off their questions.

"We don't have time to talk about it now, we have RWBY to beat."

"Alright, let's DO THIS!" Krystal yelled.

Aurora squeezed Sun's hand and they walked out as they heard the announcer call their names.

* * *

><p>"Announcing Sun Wukong, Colton Canius, Aurora Hirosaki, and Krystal Rain of Team SCAR!"<p>

As this was would determine the best team in Vale, each team had gotten their own video telling how they had gotten there. Team SCAR's played as they walked onto the field and took their positions.

"Announcing Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long of Team RWBY!" The announcer said as SCAR's video ended.

Again, the video played as the featured team took the field. Eventually it ended, and the timer began counting down.

"You sure you're okay?" Aurora whispered to Sun.

"I'm fine." He replied as the clock struck zero.

The arena had been changed for this round: Instead of a huge scattering of rocks, there were many five meters by five meters tilted platforms positioned on the ground and in the air. They all provided places to either jump off of or stick projectiles to. Krystal took advantage of this and shot an arrow trailing nylon rope at each of the four airborne platforms. The arrows stuck and each member of Team SCAR took a different rope and landed on their own platform.

Meanwhile, Team RWBY had decided to use the platforms as well. Weiss used her semblance to provide stepping stones leading up from the lower platforms towards the upper ones. Weiss and Blake both took these up while Yang used Ember Celica and Ruby used Crescent Rose. The end result of all this maneuvering was that each airborne platform had a member of each team fighting each other.

Blake and Colton were striking and parrying, Aurora and Yang were trading explosions, Weiss and Krystal were firing projectiles at each other, and Sun and Ruby were swinging their long, slightly unwieldy weapons in an attempt to knock the other off the platform. It seemed to be a dead heat for all players, none of them could land any decisive blows.

Suddenly, the platforms began to move around the arena and tilt at odd angles. All eight were forced to find ways to keep their footing and still avoid getting hit. The four platforms that had been scattered on the ground formed into a ten meter by ten meter square in the center of the arena, five meters above the ground. The remaining platforms, the ones with the competitors on them, started orbiting the center one and started randomly flipping upside down, forcing everyone to find their way back up onto the platforms.

One of these times, Weiss was not as quick getting up as Krystal and found herself staring right into an arrowhead while trying to pull herself up. Krystal smiled for a second before drawing back the arrow. Just as she was about to release, the platforms flipped again, sending her sprawling and giving Weiss her footing. Now it was Krystal who was struggling to get up while Weiss prepared for a final strike. But before she could, the moving platform interfered again as it smashed into the middle one. All of the competitors were forced onto the center platform as the smaller platforms tilted to a vertical position. The fight continued as the four individual battles continued around the platform before congregating in the middle.

Blake suddenly lashed out at Colton, back flipped over to Weiss, and lashed out at Krystal. Krystal was caught by surprise and was only saved by Sun using the long reach of his staff to deflect the hit, all the while keeping Ruby at bay. Colton was starting to stand up again but had to dodge out of the way as Yang split off from Aurora and aimed a punch at him. Colton ended up beside Krystal and took the chance to stand up while Krystal warded off enemies. Sun took a hit from Ruby and landed beside Colton and Krystal as well. He glanced behind where RWBY was looking at them triumphantly and saw Aurora pull out her C4 and drop below the platform.

Aurora had seen that they wouldn't win in a straight fight, so she had decided to think outside the box. She used a few semtexes to stick to the bottom of the platform and started placing C4 in a circle in the middle. She then dropped to the ground and planted claymores in the area around that circle, making sure they faced inwards. She walked a little ways away and used an explosive to propel herself back to the center platform. The scene that greeted her wasn't pretty: Sun, Colton, and Krystal were huddled in the middle trying to stave off the constant attacks from Team RWBY. As she watched, Blake and Yang rushed the middle and were only stopped by Krystal's arrows. She signaled to Sun and he led a charge against Ruby to get to her. They broke through and all four stood in a line. Team RWBY formed a clump in the middle, exactly where Aurora pulled out her detonator and hit it as she jumped back off the platform, with the rest of her team following a moment later. They landed away from the center platform and turned to watch the fireworks. Team RWBY fell with the exploded platform to the ground and quickly found themselves surrounded by claymores. They had one second to try to escape before they were encompassed in a huge explosion.

When the smoke cleared, Team RWBY was sprawled out on the ground while Team SCAR were standing a little ways away, winded, but still fine. Sun looked up to the board and saw the aura bars of RWBY fall to the red. He breathed a huge sigh of relief and grabbed Aurora's hand. They walked out hand in hand, with Colton and Krystal in a similar pose behind.

* * *

><p>Blake stood up and looked around. Her vision was a blur, as she was still disoriented from the explosions. She saw a figure running to her and tried to take a step forward. She fell and lifted her head up to where the figure had been. She shook her head in confusion as she saw it disappear. This confusion proved to be her downfall as, while she was still slow, someone grabbed her arm and started pulling at her. She didn't even have the presence of mind to scream as she was dragged out of the arena.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>If you have any questions, check my profile or PM me. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881  
><strong>


	31. Chapter 31: Vytal Tournament Part 6

**Chapter 31: Vytal Tournament Part 6**

He dragged the now unconscious Blake through the streets of Vale. He looked around, trying to make out which building Vayla had said she would be in. It had all been easy: The infiltration, the kidnapping, and now the escape. There had been no one to challenge him, and Blake had put up no fight whatsoever. He guessed he had Aurora to thank for that, what with her game-winning explosion. She had rendered most of Team RWBY shell shocked and this had given him the chance to grab Blake. He was reflecting upon this when he decided he had wandered around long enough.

"Come in, Secret Vayla." He said as he unmuted his mic.

"I read you, Alpha Two." She replied.

"I have the package, where should I bring it?"

"Did you forget?"

"You never told me." He allowed a flare of annoyance to rise into his voice.

"Calm down, I'm sending you the location now."

"Thanks."

He looked as an image of the city popped up on his screen and he made his way towards the building that was highlighted. When he was only a few blocks away, Blake stirred and looked around groggily.

"Wha?" She asked as she looked around at the unfamiliar, blurry surroundings.

He looked down at her and decided to leave her be for the time being. Besides, Vayla would want to talk to her and that couldn't happen when she was unconscious. He rounded the corner and set his gaze on the new hideout. According to Vayla, the warehouse had been compromised long ago and she just hadn't had the chance to move out. Now though, she had decided to move to a large apartment complex near the river. She had already set up multiple escape routes around the complex. Most notably, a shining, new speedboat.

"Here's the package." He called as he walked through the door.

"Blake!" Adam cried as he rushed over to her. "Is she okay?"

"She appears to be." Vayla said as she walked in and bent down beside Adam.

"Blake?" Adam continued to try to get Blake's attention.

Vayla stood up and turned towards the man who had brought her here.

"Good work, your next job is to ensure that nobody interferes before the dropoff. Give us three days and we will be able to deliver the package to its final stop."

"Understood." And with that, he slipped quietly out of the room.

* * *

><p>Yang looked around. The area around her was nothing more than a blurry mass of random objects. She blinked and her eyesight seemed to improve enough to see someone running towards her team. As she watched, the person disappeared and she looked around in confusion. Suddenly, she saw movement to her left and she turned to face it. Her head swam as she watched Blake get dragged out of the arena by nothing. Yang's conscience decided to disregard it as false and she fell back into a short sleep.<p>

She was woken a few minutes later by Team SCAR, who had sheepishly returned to help Team RWBY. As she sat up, her brain returned to what she had seen earlier. Her head snapped up and looked around in alarm, no doubt scaring everyone around her with the sudden movement.

"Where's Blake?" She asked.

"We can't seem to find her, but we think we know where she might be." Sun replied unhappily.

"And where would that be?" Weiss walked over and helped Yang up.

"Well," Sun glanced around at his team before replying. "We think Vayla got her."

"WHAT?" Yang's voice came out as a screech. "How do you know this?"

"Me and Sun were attacked by Archer earlier today." Aurora cut in, sensing that Sun would flounder if he tried to respond.

"Why didn't you tell us this?" Weiss' voice was calmer than Yang's, but not by much.

"We got here right before the match, and I assumed that we would have time afterwards to warn you guys. I guess not."

"Do we know where Blake is now?"

"Not exactly, but we could always check the warehouse she used last time." Sun suggested.

"There is no 'we' here." Ruby broke in with a slight grimace.

"What do you mean?" Krystal asked in bewilderment.

"You guys won't do anything except win this tournament for Vale."

"WHAT? Blake's our friend too!"

"But we will have three teams that we know can go after Blake, so you guys can win this tournament for us. You didn't beat us this late in the game to drop out now."

"Maybe four. And fine, we will win for you guys." Sun replied.

"Who would be the fourth? There's us, JNPR, and BOLT."

"Try HEAT, I think they might be interested in taking action with you guys."

"Alright, we'll go get everyone together and tell them the plans. We can head out in search tomorrow." Ruby turned to leave with Yang and Weiss following.

"One thing?" Sun asked.

"Yes?" Ruby turned slightly.

"If you see any members of SEAL, at least try to convert them back to this side."

"Fine, let's go." She nodded her head and walked out, with the remainder of Team RWBY following behind her.

* * *

><p>"I'm worried about them." Krystal said as she climbed into bed that night.<p>

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Colton replied as he wrapped his arms around her.

Team RWBY had gathered the teams together and laid out the plans for the assault on the warehouse compound. SCAR had been there but they had had to leave early to get some sleep before their match tomorrow. For all they knew, RWBY, JNPR, BOLT, and HEAT were still down there, continuously changing the plan to fit all people's fighting styles and strengths. SCAR wouldn't get a chance to talk to any of them the next morning due to the fact that the teams were leaving early to scout the area. SCAR would be left to win the semifinals match with no support from their friends in the stands.

"Don't worry about them, do you guys want to check the highlights of today's matches?" Sun asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Sure, go for it." Colton sat up a bit more in his bed and turned towards the TV.

The television flashed to life and Sun switched to ESsPeN in time to see the highlights from their match. The program continued on, showing highlights from the TANK vs. CYCL, RPGS vs. THTA, and CELS vs. FAIL before moving on to talking about the next round.

"We have a good set of matches happening tomorrow," The announcer started. "Including the fight between TANK and SCAR, which is shaping up to be a very good match. These two teams are at the top of their game and I am excited to see how SCAR is going to use the environment in this one."

Sun and Colton exchanged glances and smirked before turning back to the TV.

"But the battle that everyone wants to see is the one between CELS and RPGS. I'm really interested to see what gameplan Liz of CELS can come up with."

Sun shut off the TV and turned off the light beside him before snuggling up into Aurora's sleeping form. He fell asleep to the faint voices of the other teams, who were still devising the plan long into the night.

* * *

><p>"When's our battle again?" Krystal asked as Team SCAR walked out of the hotel.<p>

"Three." Aurora replied with a glance at her watch.

"Well what are we going to do until then?"

"Hmm, I don't really know."

"When's the other match?" Sun turned to look at Aurora as he spoke.

"In thirty minutes, why?"

"We should see our potential competition if we win this fight."

"That's a good point, we could think up a way to counter anything they do." Colton added, nodding.

"Who's fighting again?" Krystal asked with a small frown.

"CELS and RPGS." Aurora consulted the tournament line-up for the second time in five minutes.

"Well, we have nothing else to do. Let's go!" Sun led the way to Arena Two, anxious to see the two teams go at it.

* * *

><p>"Announcing Roach Sanderson, John Price, Ghost Riley, and Soap MacTavish of Team RPGS!"<p>

"Announcing Chase Vizon, Ethan Schmuck, Liz Romanov, and Seven Wollemi of Team CELS!"

The two teams walked to their positions and took in their surroundings. Seven allowed a rare smile to her face as she saw the arena infested in plantlife. There were four massive trees positioned around the arena, with smaller plants scattered around and forming a floor. There were multiple footpaths weaving around the arena, providing ways for the competitors to navigate. Even a small pond was added, resting right in the middle of the arena.

Roach, Price, Ghost, and Soap all looked around impassively, taking notes of what they could use as cover. They all checked their weapons for the ninth time in the past four minutes and found them satisfactory. Roach held a UMP 45, Price an M1911 .45, Ghost an ACR, and Soap an M21. Overall, they were a very balanced team who knew how to use that to their advantage. They were a force to be reckoned with, and CELS had a strategy, courtesy of Liz, that counteracted RPGS best advantage, range.

As the timer started its countdown, from thirty this time to give the players a longer heads-up time, CELS took the opportunity to make sure their weapons hadn't changed for the worse in the five minutes since they last checked. Chase had his dual MP5k's, Ethan his sniper rifle, Liz her two chakrams, and Seven her ancient-looking green and black sword.

A siren sounded, signaling the start of the match. Seven used her Semblance to attach a vine to one of the massive trees and swung herself up. Her job was to make RPGS forget about her. Liz's favorite strategies were to make one person disappear and be forgotten about. While the rest of the team would be fighting, Seven would be setting up a network of other things that could be used as fallback plans. She attached vines to all of the trees and used them to get across.

Meanwhile, Liz, Chase, and Ethan were using the multiple trees and undergrowth as cover. Liz was quickly dashing from tree base to tree base, drawing the fire of RPGS, who were clustered in the typical fireteam formation. Ethan had manipulated the gravity in a small radius around him to send him skyward, also drawing attention. He landed in one of the giant trees but made sure to stay in RPGS' line of sight. Chase had dove into the pond and was using the currents to occasionally shoot him into the air so he could take shots.

Seven made her way to the tree nearest RPGS and began her descent down the side of the tree, taking care to stay where they couldn't see her. She watched as Soap hit a shot on Ethan and Ethan tumbled out of the sky. He quickly switched the gravity so that he was falling sideways towards RPGS, switching his shot to assault rifle mode as he did so. Ethan and Seven both approached RPGS at the same time from different sides, Ethan from the front and dodging bullets, Seven from the back, unseen so far. Chase rose out of the water with a splash and shot into the sky again. He landed right in front of Ethan, giving him a springboard to jump off of. Ethan, with the combined force of Chase quickly standing up, flew up and unloaded bullets into RPGS.

While all of this was happening, Liz had snuck through the undergrowth to a position that she knew the enemy would be before too long. She watched as Seven stealthily approached from behind and lash out twice at the person in the back, which happened to be Soap, the one least suited for CQC. Soap took a hit and his aura dropped drastically, falling well into the orange. He deflected the second strike with his M21, calling to Price as he did so. Price turned around and pistol-whipped Seven, sending her flying.

Momentarily distracted, RPGS was forced back by a sudden assault by Chase and Ethan. They slowly gave ground as they struggled to keep up with the bewildering movement of Chase's knives and Ethan's bullets. Chase called upon the power of the pond and shot the water around and into RPGS, forcing them back farther.

Liz waited as she saw RPGS grow closer and closer to her before leaping out of the plants and slashing her chakrams into Roach. At that exact time, Ethan had switched the gravity around them slightly and RPGS had momentarily floated into the air. While the time and distance was small, the effect was great. RPGS staggered when they hit the ground again and this gave Liz the chance to attack Roach and send his aura into the red, handing the victory to CELS.

The crowd cheered as CELS, now including Seven again, walked over to RPGS and shook hands. They then walked off the arena floor, leaving a still screaming crowd and a "slightly" dejected team behind.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>If you have any questions, check my profile or PM me. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881  
><strong>


	32. Chapter 32: Vytal Tournament Part 7

**Chapter 32: Vytal Tournament Part 7**

He looked around the "abandoned" warehouse complex and smiled. The three brainwashed survivors of Team SEAL were posted around the complex, making sure nobody could get in. In the event of an assault on one, the other two could rush to help while he stayed back in the main warehouse. He knew that he only needed to stall for time, but he wanted to do more. What he planned to do was capture everyone who invaded the area.

He checked the trap again to make sure nothing had malfunctioned in the few minutes between checks. He could picture the assault now: The Beacon teams would infiltrate the compound through the paths of one of Team SEAL. They would probably defeat the first and only be delayed slightly by the second and third. They would then rush to the middle in an attempt to find Blake. They would see the decoy in a chair on the other side of the room and move forward to save it. His trap would then activate and daze all of them. He would have ample time to string them up and transport them back to the base. It would all be so simple.

His reminiscing was interrupted by the sound of gunfire from the west side. He knew that the enemy had arrived and he bunkered down to wait for them to reach the center.

* * *

><p>"Announcing Sun Wukong, Colton Canius, Aurora Hirosaki, and Krystal Rain of Team SCAR!"<p>

"Announcing Tyson Hallio, Alex Chernykh, Nico Sesh, and Key Blade of Team TANK!"

The two teams examined the arena floor as they walked out. The trees and undergrowth provided multiple ways to stealthily approach the enemy. The pond in the middle gave another hiding spot to both teams' repertoire.

The teams directed their gaze from the arena and towards the other players. Sun examined the weapons that the other team had: Tyson had a mace and chain, Alex had an AK-47, Nico had a stygian iron sword, and Key had, you guessed it, a keyblade.

The timer hit the magic number of zero and both teams made a break for the pond in the middle. This would turn out to be a rather boring fight, as each player picked another one out and continuously engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Krystal and Alex were exchanging long range ammunition, Key and Sun were exchanging hits on each other, Colton and Nico were dancing around each other, looking for any opening, and Aurora was throwing C4 at a charging Tyson.

The explosions that followed the C4 were starting to do damage to the arena, as some of the undergrowth had caught on fire. This quickly transformed into a full-scale forest fire, with everything burning. The competitors continued fighting, oblivious to the raging fire around them. It was only when Krystal backed up and stepped onto the fire that anyone took any notice of it. She screamed as her leg was suddenly engulfed in flames.

Her Semblance tried to kick in but the fire tore through flesh faster than it could heal. Colton finally scooped her up off the ground and hurled her into the air. Aurora shot a well-placed shot that propelled Krystal into the lake and into relative safety. SCAR took a second to appreciate their work before Sun caught a bullet to the leg. They turned as TANK slowly approached, knowing that they would lose in a three on four fight.

* * *

><p>Ruby crawled forwards and gestured for Pyrrha to move with her.<p>

"Use your scope and scout out the compound." Ruby whispered.

"On it." Pyrrha muttered back as she scanned the area.

She called out where she saw any enemy before handing the sniper to Ruby.

"So there are three patrolling outside, and an unknown amount inside." Ruby said.

"Correct, from what I saw." Pyrrha responded.

"If only we knew what was inside."

"Shame we left Colton behind."

"I agree."

"Ready?"

"Hell yeah."

Ruby led the way over the crest of the hill, making sure that nobody silhouetted themselves against the night sky. She halted the group right outside of the compound and pressed herself against the barbed wire fence.

"Alright, everybody remember the plan?" Ruby looked around at the teams behind her for an answer.

Heads were nodded and she gestured for Hailey to make her way to the front.

"You're up, ready?" Ruby asked as she drew near.

"Of course." She replied as the rest of Team HEAT followed behind her.

Their job was to distract the first guard they saw, and they proceeded forwards to do just that.

"Hey idiot!" Hailey yelled as she brought the earth into a shield in front of her and her team.

Archer turned at the insult and unleashed a burst of gunfire into the earthen shields Team HEAT had in front of them. HEAT advanced slowly and Hailey gesticulated for everyone else to move further into the warehouses.

"Go!" She screamed as she made it far enough to lash out with her pistol at Archer.

Ruby continued to lead the way as they made it closer and closer to the center warehouse. As they rounded a corner, they were ambushed by Sandman and Everett. BOLT split off to deal with them and RWBY and JNPR continued forwards into the main warehouse. They burst through the doors and found themselves facing one person, who had taken the seat of honor in the back of the room. As they watched, the seat rotated and they saw Blake taped to the chair.

"It's a trap!" Hailey screamed as she and BOLT sprinted through the door.

But the warning came too late as a giant flashbang went off, stunning everyone in the room and disrupting their aura.

"I can't see!" Yang screamed.

"WHAT?" Omega shouted.

"I said, I can't see!"

"WHAT?"

"I SAID, I CAN'T SEE!"

"WHAT?"

They failed to notice a person standing on the railing above them, casually bringing his crossbow up to aim at Omega.

"I SAID- YOU KNOW WHAT? NEVER MIND!" Yang finally gave up as her patience snapped.

"WHA-?" Omega's scream was cut off mid-sentence as a crossbow bolt slammed into her.

Tyger's eyes cleared just enough to see his teammate fly across the arena, dead before she hit the ground.

"NO!" He screamed.

He stumbled towards her but got a prod from behind. As he turned towards it, he felt something smash into his head. Then the world went dark.

* * *

><p>Krystal felt herself break the surface of the water and sink down into the water. She heard the sound of gunfire from above but took a second to heal her leg. The dark blue haze blended well with the water around her and she had to look closely to see it at all. Her tranquility was finally disturbed when she heard Colton scream out in pain. She heard it and propelled herself out of the water, intent on saving her boyfriend.<p>

While Krystal had been recuperating in the lake, Sun, Aurora, and Colton were fighting a losing battle. Even the best of teams will be overpowered when outnumbered, and TANK was using their extra person to the fullest extent. There were only so many attacks that Sun could block and he was beginning to reach that limit. It would take a miracle to win the game now and, strangely enough, a miracle was what they got, but in a form none of them saw coming.

"Agh!" Colton cried out as a thrust from Key hit home.

Colton lost most of his aura in that single hit and he stumbled backwards in an attempt to prolong the game. Key advanced on him slowly, and Colton kept his backwards crawl going. He glanced at his two teammates and saw they were cornered by three TANK members. He knew this would be it and he raised Amber and Ember in an attempt to ward off the final blow.

There was a sudden eruption of water as Krystal flew out of it like a dolphin. She raised Toxid and shot four well-placed arrows in rapid succession at each TANK member. Then, while they were still distracted, she raced over to Key and drew back another arrow. Key turned to her and raised his keyblade to take her down, only to feel a force drive him to his knees.

"Never turn your back on your opponent." Colton lectured as he brought Amber down for the final blow.

Key's aura fell to the red and the crowd cheered. The finals now had the set teams, and everyone would be eager to watch it the next day. SCAR shook hands with TANK and then walked out of the arena to uproarious applause and support.

* * *

><p>Pyrrha woke up to a tilted world. Everything seemed upside down. She had no idea how this had happened or even where she was. It was only after a few minutes of careful thought that it came to her. The attack on the warehouse complex, the subsequent flashbang, and her world turning to dark. Her eyes widened as she looked around and saw everyone strung up from the floor around her.<p>

'That's strange, how are they hanging from the floor.' She thought.

She spent another few minutes contemplating this before she saw Vayla walk on the ceiling above her. She finally figured out she was hanging from the ceiling and she thrashed about in an attempt to break free. Vayla laughed a cold-hearted laugh and brought a remote into view.

Pyrrha felt herself being lowered until she was face to face with Vayla. The two looked at each other before Vayla pressed another button, bringing everyone else down to the ground as well. Pyrrha tried to activate her Semblance but found herself unable to. Vayla laughed again and pointed to the ceiling. Pyrrha looked up and saw a massive ASH set up above them. She brought her gaze back to Vayla and saw her walk across the floor towards Jaune. Pyrrha's eyes widened further as Vayla pulled out a .44 Magnum and pointed it at Jaune's head.

"NO!" She screamed in agony as Vayla started to pull the trigger.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>If you have any questions, check my profile or PM me. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881  
><strong>


	33. Chapter 33: Vytal Tournament Finale

**Chapter 33: Vytal Tournament Finale**

He watched as Vayla casually strolled across the room and smiled in anticipation. She bent down over the blonde boy, pulling her pistol out as she did so. He heard the scream from the redheaded girl and moved to intercept. He made it and clamped his hand over her mouth with a motion to keep quiet. He turned back as Vayla started to pull the trigger and tightened his clamp on Pyrrha again.

*click

He looked on in confusion as Vayla brought the gun away from the still living Jaune. The plan had been to kill him from the start, and he had no idea why Vayla would stray from that. The answer came shortly afterward when she returned with a different kind of pistol. This one was a .44 Magnum, and she loaded one bullet in, spinning the barrel as she did so.

"Russian Roulette, now go." She said to Jaune.

He looked on as Jaune took the gun and put it to his head. Jaune took a breath and let it out slowly before pulling the trigger with a scream.

*click

Vayla took the gun from Jaune and handed it to the person next to her. This person happened to be Nora, who tried to shy away from the gun in front of her. Vayla stood back a moment in shock before pistol whipping Nora and giving the gun to her again. Nora took it this time and brought the gun up until the barrel rested under her chin. She took a second to look at her favorite person and boyfriend in the world with a sad look. Ren, in response, nodded his head and bent forward to kiss her on the lips. This moment was shattered when Vayla nodded at Adam, who jogged forward and placed a crippling kick into Ren's ribs, shattering a few of them. Nora sobbed and quickly pulled the trigger connected to the gun held up to her head.

*BANG

He turned away as Nora crumpled to the ground in a heap, blood trickling slowly out of her. There was no reason for him to watch such a gruesome death. He mentally reviewed the deaths that had happened so far: All but Hailey of Team HEAT in the first assault, Omega of Team BOLT in the warehouse, and now Nora of Team JNPR. Those were only the ones who had fallen so far, and he knew that the others could all be killed at any point in time.

* * *

><p>Sun led the way to the arena, looking around at the gathering crowd as he did so. The place was packed, and as well it should be, this was the final round. He glanced at Aurora and smiled, receiving a smile in return. The two chattering voices of Colton and Krystal could be heard behind them, going on and on about God knows what.<p>

"You two ready back there?" Sun called back lightheartedly.

"You know us, we were ready from the day we were born." Krystal replied.

Aurora rolled her eyes and Sun shook his head and they both forged onward through the sea of fans. They reached the arena and slipped into the competitor's entrance. Sun sat down when they reached their waiting area and felt Aurora slip into his arms as he did so.

"How long do we have to wait?" Krystal asked with a slight whimper.

Aurora held up her newly constructed watch and checked it.

"About five more minutes."

"Really? I thought we had more time." Colton stood up and started looking over Amber and Ember.

"That's a good point." Sun nodded at Colton and slid out his staff, making sure as he did so that all of the mechanisms inside worked perfectly.

"Would all competitors gather in the middle for the ceremony?" The voice of the announcer was heard through the walls and everyone stood up.

"Let's go give them something to cheer about." Krystal said, as she heard the cries rise up from the fans above.

The two teams walked their way to the middle of the arena, taking the opportunity to examine the terrain. It was a flat area with no pieces of cover or verticality anywhere, perfect for a display of brute strength. Liz looked suitably stumped with the lack of creative environment and her brain was working hard to come up with a plan.

"Teams assemble!" The announcer yelled as the two teams made it to the middle of the arena.

The competitors shuffled into the correct order and stood side by side, waiting for the ceremony to hurry onwards.

"Announcing Chase Vizon of Team CELS!" Chase stepped forwards stared into the stands.

"Announcing Ethan Schmuck of Team CELS!" Ethan strode up and waved at the crowd.

"Announcing Liz Romanov of Team CELS!" Liz moved after a moment's hesitation, still distracted.

"Announcing Seven Wollemi of Team CELS!" Seven stepped up beside Liz and smiled menacingly.

"And now, announcing Sun Wukong of Team SCAR!" Sun pumped his fist.

"Announcing Colton Canius of Team SCAR!" Colton nodded.

"Announcing Aurora Hirosaki of Team SCAR!" Aurora pulled out her detonator and clicked it for fun.

"Announcing Krystal Rain of Team SCAR!" Krystal did a front flip forwards.

"LET'S HEAR IT FOR THESE TWO TEAMS!" The announcer screamed as the players moved to their respective side of the arena.

"And now, the moment you have all been waiting for, the starting shout. Here to do it is Professor Ozpin of Beacon Academy."

Ozpin stepped up and cleared his throat before speaking.

"Drivers, START, YOUR, ENGINES!" He brought his arm down and the two teams shot off towards each other.

* * *

><p>Ren looked on in shock at the lump of meat that used to be his girlfriend. It took a second for what had just happened to sink in, but when it did, it sank like the Titanic. He sobbed and began crawling forward to her, but was stopped at the last second by Vayla. She grabbed the front of his collar and sneered into his face before shoving him back onto the ground.<p>

"Get these into the garage and prepare them for some more entertainment." She said to Adam, who moved forward immediately.

"And you," She addressed the person standing in the corner. "Make sure they don't escape or I will find you."

What she didn't see was the small speck of defiance in the eyes of the man she was talking to. That small speck was only what showed on the outside, his insides were alight with anger at someone who would snuff out a life just because she wanted to. As he saw Vayla walk through the door, he couldn't resist speaking under his breath.

"Soon, bitch."

* * *

><p>Chase rushed forward, leading his team forward. He was slightly worried, as Liz had been unable to think up anything in the short time span to give them an advantage. It was a very rare occurrence, and if it were in I Spy, it would have been worth more than a super creeper. He leaped out of the way as explosions started detonating all around him. It was that Aurora girl, with her annoying SCAR.<p>

"We have to take Aurora out!" He called to his teammates, who were weaving around behind him.

"On it." Ethan dropped back and switched his gun to sniper rifle mode.

Chase continued on, seeing Aurora dodge the sniper shots. He brought his team closer in as the explosions ceased and led them in a tight wedge formation. Sun and Colton were advancing at the same brisk pace, with Krystal and Aurora staying back.

"Contact in five." Liz muttered as she finished assessing the speed of both teams.

"Got it, got a plan yet?" Chase asked her.

"Beat the crap out of them, we have these two outnumbered." Came the reply as the two sides smashed into each other.

Colton and Liz immediately engaged and Liz slowly backed away from the rest of the battle. This left Sun with both Chase and Seven against him. He quickly began giving ground against the doubled assault and called back for help.

Krystal had been waiting to see where she would be needed and Sun's cry brought her attention to the unfair two on one that was going on. She brought Toxid up and brought the string back. Seemingly without aiming, she let loose a rapid hail of extremely accurate arrows upon Chase and Seven. The two hit the floor, making the arrows hit the ground behind them. They barely had enough of a chance to regain their bearings before Sun was on them in a flurry of attacks.

Sun's long staff gave him the advantage of hitting both at once and he drove them back for a few seconds before Seven used her Semblance and called a vine that latched onto Sun's ankle. Sun staggered and had just enough time to bring his staff up to block the overhead cut aimed at him.

The problem was that there was more than one attacker. Chase stabbed with one of his two knives, it struck Sun in the chest and brought his aura to a lime-like color. Now that would have been fine, if it weren't for the quick follow-up stab that lowered it to a dark orange.

Sun stumbled backwards before anyone else could lay any more strokes into him and made a quick retreat. He made it to Aurora and Krystal and turned back to survey the arena.

Ethan was taking shots at Aurora, making her move around. Chase and Seven were moving back towards him. Colton and Liz were still fighting in the middle but, at a signal from Chase, Liz sprinted back to the rest of her team. Colton, seeing a chance to relax, made his way over to Sun.

"They surprised me there, but I would say that we got the better of the exchange overall." Sun said as Colton stopped beside him.

"Liz couldn't land any hits on me, and I got a few shots on her." Colton added.

"If we stick to the plan, we might beat them." Aurora mentioned as she dodged their way.

"I can't go back to another two on one." Sun looked around at his team with a weary smile.

"No, I have a better idea." Aurora said as she stopped moving around, as Ethan had finally stopped shooting at her.

* * *

><p>He purposefully walked the halls to where Vayla's "office" was. He opened the door without knocking and strolled in. The room was lavishly decorated for a place that would only be occupied for a short time. It was painted a light shade of gray with a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. There was a random assortment of item around the room, with other furnishings scattered about. He walked forward and stood in front of the desk, which held a very annoyed looking twelve year old.<p>

"What are you doing here?" Vayla asked with a hint of anger.

"I have come to announce that your prisoners are all tied up and ready for you to grace them with your presence." He said as he bowed with a flourish.

"Fine then, I guess I should go do that." She said sarcastically as she brushed past him.

* * *

><p>Sun watched as his friends advanced without him. He felt a pang of unhappiness when he looked at the unfamiliar weapon in his hands. Aurora's plan involved keeping him out of the fight, but he would be useless with his staff. Instead, he held the sniper rifle version of Toxid in his shaking hands. He steadied his nerves as he saw his team only a few meters from CELS.<p>

'Good luck, guys.' He thought.

Ethan led the charge forward and switched to assault rifle mode just before the impact. He fired a couple shots at Aurora as she shot at him. They both were sent back a few meters but quickly began exchanging shots, circling each other like tigers.

Krystal and Colton were put into a two on two situation against Liz and Seven. Colton swung Amber in a glittering arc at Liz before being blocked by Seven's sword. Liz retaliated with a swing at Colton but was stopped by the long reach of Krystal's staff. With most weapons held up in some way, Colton swung Ember straight at Seven. He was stopped by Liz's second chakram, which sent Ember flying away.

Liz and Seven followed up on the advantage by swinging all three blades at once, forcing Colton and Krystal to retreat steadily due to the extra weapon. Colton was knocked to the ground and Krystal was on the verge of being overwhelmed when a gunshot rang out.

Seven looked down at the huge dent in her aura and checked to see how much she had left. The display showed her on par with Sun, a deep orange. She dropped back, not willing to take any chances. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't as out of the way as she thought. Ethan was right beside her and a stray shot from Aurora rang out, sending both Ethan and Seven sprawling sideways in an attempt to dodge it. The subsequent explosion brought Colton, and Liz both into a degree of orange, with Krystal making a last second leap to avoid the destruction.

Aurora yelped in surprise and ran over to Colton, who was already being pulled up by Krystal. Colton walked a few steps on his own before swaying and beginning to fall. He was caught by Sun, who had run over as quickly as possible. They took a second to regroup, with Sun and Krystal switching weapons again, before Chase led a charge against them again.

This battle lasted an even shorter amount of time, as both Aurora and Ethan took each other down to orange quickly, and all other orange fighters cautiously engaged in combat. This left Krystal and Chase as the only ones left willing to continue to fight in earnest, as all others were scared of losing. Chase finally knocked Krystal to the ground and lifted his arm up to finish the match. His MP5k changed into knife form as he brought it down to smash into Krystal. But Krystal had one more trick up her sleeve.

Her body was surrounding in a dark blue haze that blocked the knife stroke. Her aura depleted all the way to the very dark orange, just slightly keeping above red. The blue haze raced into Sun, who had disengaged from Liz and was barreling straight at Chase from behind. Chase spun around and landed a wild shot on Sun. The crowd gasped, as that hit would've brought Sun's aura down to the red. But Sun didn't fall, Krystal had completed the aura transfer just before Sun was hit and his aura had refilled to be full. Chase's strike brought Sun's aura quickly back down to the orange, but he didn't have enough time for a follow up. Sun's staff smashed into him, sending him flying as his aura depleted straight to the red.

The fans were silent for a second, as though stunned, before roaring their approval.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>If you have any questions, check my profile or PM me. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881  
><strong>


	34. Chapter 34: Endgame

**Chapter 34: Endgame**

He followed Vayla as she walked quickly through the halls. They arrived in the new holding place of the prisoners as Adam was securing the last prisoner to the rope. There were only a few of them left, quite a change from the four team attack squad. Team RWBY was the only team that suffered no casualties, aside from Blake earlier. Team BOLT had lost Omega. Team JNPR had lost Nora. And Team HEAT had been reduced to just Hailey. Of the nineteen prisoners, only ten remained.

Vayla pulled out her Magnum, loading a round in as she did so. She looked over all of the prisoners, searching for any sign of weakness. She settled on Jaune again, walking over to him. He looked up in fear at her as she spun the barrel and handed him the gun. He glanced at Pyrrha, who turned away, before yelling and pulling the trigger.

*Click

Jaune and Pyrrha both let out sighs of relief. Vayla wrenched the gun from Jaune and moved over to Hailey. Hailey stared up in defiance when Vayla tried to hand her the gun, and got a whack to the head for it. Vayla tried to give her the gun again, but Hailey still refused to take it. Vayla finally lost her temper and threw the Magnum at her. Hailey slumped to the ground, unconscious, while Vayla picked the gun up again and aimed it at her head. She pulled the trigger with a smile.

*Click

Vayla frowned and decided to move on to someone else. From the group, she selected Weiss for the torture. The two stared daggers at each other before Vayla shoved the gun at her. Weiss grabbed it and brought it slowly to her head. She knew that there was a one fourth chance of the bullet hitting her and she hesitated, sensing this would be her last move. She turned to Ruby and kissed her before calmly pulling the trigger.

*Bang

* * *

><p>"We have to hurry." Sun grabbed his teammates by the hands and started leading them out of the arena.<p>

"What about the awards ceremony?" Krystal asked.

Colton rolled his eyes and turned to her before being interrupted by Sun.

"Glad your priorities are in order, but we have friends to get to before something bad happens to them."

The four had just made it to the exit when Chase caught up with them.

"What's the hurry? You just won the tournament, and now you're ready to just leave?" He asked in bewilderment.

"We have some friends that need our help." Aurora cut in.

Chase's expression hardened.

"How so?"

"Well, they left this morning to rescue another one of our friends and they haven't returned yet."

"What do they need rescued from?"

"A girl named Vayla."

Chase visibly recoiled at the name and turned to motion for his team to move over to him.

"I'm sorry, do you know her?" Sun asked.

"Yeah," Chase turned back to answer. "We have been chasing someone working for her. He uses a crossbow?"

"Haven't seen him yet." Sun shook his head.

"Hmm. You three, get the car started and bring it over." Liz ran off with Seven and Ethan and Chase looked back to Sun. "Count us in."

* * *

><p>"Weiss!" Ruby squealed as the gunshot rang out and touched her lips, where she could still feel Weiss' final kiss.<p>

Vayla watched the two with contempt and moved off to confer with Adam.

"I'm getting bored with this, line them up and tie them each to stakes." She said.

Adam moved to do so and Vayla sat back for a second to recover.

"Done." Vayla opened her eyes and saw Adam standing over her with a glint of sadness in his eyes.

"Good." She stood up and surveyed the assembled remaining Beacon students.

Jaune was first, followed by Hailey, Tyger, Blade, Pyrrha, Yang, Ren, Lance, and finally Ruby. Vayla walked over to them, throwing her Magnum to the ground as she did so. The hope growing on the prisoners' faces were quickly diminished as she pulled out her other pistol.

"I'm tired of watching you guys live, so I'm done with games. Prepare to die." Vayla brought the pistol up to Jaune and pulled the trigger.

*Bang

What used to be Jaune sagged to the ground and Vayla moved on to the next person. She brought the gun up again to Hailey and began to pull the trigger.

*Bang

Vayla was thrown back as the wall suddenly exploded behind her and a vehicle drove in, skidding to a stop. Team SCAR jumped off the roof and ran forward. They barely noticed the prisoners and focused their attention on Vayla, Adam, and… and…

"Lunas?" Sun stopped in his tracks as he realized who the third person was.

"Hello, Sun. It's been a while."

"You know him?" Vayla asked Lunas in mild confusion.

He nodded and stepped away, leveling his crossbow on Vayla.

"Not only do I know him, but he's my brother."

"Treachery." Vayla spat out as Lunas shot.

Adam fell to the ground, clutching at the bolt embedded in his neck. Vayla cackled and took off, leaving her meat shield lying on the ground.

"You go after her, we have to attend to the prisoners." Krystal called to Sun as she knelt down beside Adam.

"I'm with you." Lunas said.

"Me too." Chase sidled up beside Sun and pulled out his knives.

"We have no time to waste, let's go." Sun sprinted after Vayla with Lunas and Chase close behind.

* * *

><p>"She's up there." Chase pointed to one of the rooftops, where the small form of Vayla could still be seen.<p>

"Got it, follow me." Sun used his tail to grab a lamppost and catapult himself up to the rooftops.

Chase summoned water and a geyser shot out under him, sending him and Lunas up behind Sun.

"She's heading for the river!" Sun called back as he jumped to another rooftop.

"The boat! She's going to try to escape by a boat!" Lunas yelled as Vayla's plan dawned on him.

"We just have to get to her before she makes it." Sun gritted his teeth and plowed on.

Chase was assessing distances and slowed as he finally put two and two together.

"We can't, she had too much of a head start."

"Just keep going!"

The three continued forwards as fast as they could before Lunas misjudged one of the jumps and landed on the streets below. Sun slowed and yelled down.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine, just keep going!" Came the reply.

Sun grabbed Chase and they reached the dock as Vayla was just pulling out. Sun pulled out his staff and threw it with deadly accuracy at Vayla. She saw it coming at the last second and swatted it back onto the dock. Sun ran to it and picked it up for another throw before Chase grabbed his arm and pointed at a small Zodiac.

"We can use that to catch her!" Chase led the way and took his place at the motor.

Sun hopped in the front and the two began chasing Vayla once again.

* * *

><p>Lunas staggered through the hole in the wall and sat down just inside.<p>

"What happened? Are Sun and Chase okay?" Aurora asked as she moved over to him.

"They're still following, how are things here?"

"Not well," Aurora looked at the group with a frown. "We lost a lot of people, and the psychological damage could be the issue with the ones still living.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to gain her trust." He said miserably, putting his head in his hands.

"It's okay, I don't blame you. Just Vayla."  
>"But… But…"<p>

"We were all pawns, used for her own gain."

Lunas took a deep breath and brought his head up again.

"We need to help them."

Aurora noted the new fire in his eyes and knew who he was talking about.

"I know, let's call a chopper from Beacon and get over to them."

"But the issue is, I don't know where they are."  
>"Not an issue, I have a tracker on Sun at all times. For no reason, of course." Aurora coughed a few times and strode off to help Krystal again.<p>

Lunas looked at her and laughed before turning his thoughts to his future actions.

* * *

><p>"She's getting in a helicopter!" Chase yelled.<p>

He and Sun had been following Vayla for the past few minutes, through what seemed like all of the White Fang. There had been helicopters circling both them and Vayla and men with RPG's on bridges. They had finally dodged the last RPG shot and the helicopters had slowly moved off, but then another had come out of nowhere and Vayla had hopped in.

"Keep it steady!" Sun called back as he stood up and aimed.

He hurled his staff at the rotors and the helicopter lurched. It began spinning and going down and Sun let out a sigh of relief, before watching as the helicopter seemingly disappeared into the water. He frowned and came to a conclusion just as Chase shouted a warning.

"Waterfall! Hold on!"

The Zodiac plunged over the edge and Sun watched the water as it came up to meet him. There was an almighty splash and his vision went black.

* * *

><p>Sun awoke to the feeling of sand on his cheek and looked around his surroundings groggily. He could hear the sound of the helicopter rotors slowly spinning in the near distance. He suddenly bent forward and coughed up some water before looking around beside him. He saw one of Chase's knives and quickly grabbed it. Chase was nowhere to be found and Sun stood up slowly. He began making his way towards the sound of the helicopter and realized for the first time where he was. He had somehow made his way out into the desert, and a massive sandstorm now faced him. The thought didn't deter him and he stumbled onwards before seeing the burning remains of the helicopter.<p>

A vague hope reignited inside him and he quickly made his way over to it. There was a lone man sitting with his back to the wreckage and as he saw Sun, he grabbed a pistol from behind him and pointed it at Sun. Sun watched in agony as the man pulled the trigger connected to the gun that could end Sun's life.

*Click *Click

The man looked at the gun in surprise before passing out. Sun moved around him and saw Vayla moving quickly from the burning husk of the helicopter. She glanced at him and made her way off into the desert, with Sun in hot pursuit. He lost her to the sandstorm but kept moving and finally found her leaning against a destroyed car for support.

Sun brought the knife down on her but she grabbed his arm and smashed his head against the metal frame. He went down and Vayla grabbed the knife from his limp hand and plunged it into his stomach.

Sun watched as Vayla loaded bullets into her Magnum, which she had seemed to have recovered before escaping her hideout. She finished and brought the gun to aim at Sun.

"I know you understand." She said as she began to pull the trigger.

*Bang

Sun winced, but as he felt no impact, he looked up. Chase had tackled Vayla onto the ground and had kicked the gun away from her. Sun began crawling towards the gun as Chase and Vayla fought in the background. He was a meter away before he saw Chase get thrown to the ground in front of him. Sun's hand closed around the gun before it was kicked away by Vayla. She quickly turned and brought her foot into Sun's face, knocking him unconscious again.

* * *

><p>Sun awoke again to Chase and Vayla fighting in the background. It was a dead heat for a while but Vayla eventually gained the upper hand, proceeding to beat the crap out of Chase. Sun turned his gaze to the knife embedded in his chest and he brought his hand to it. He began to pull it out, ignoring the pain that it was causing him. He brought his other hand and continued pulling as his vision began to turn black again. As he was just about to pass out from the pain, the knife came free. Sun reversed his grip so he was holding the blade and he turned his head to look at Chase and Vayla. Vayla was holding Chase down with her knees while she continuously rained blows on Chase's face. Sun brought his arm back and then forward, throwing the knife at Vayla. She looked up just as the knife struck her left eye, lodging itself in the brain and killing her instantly.<p>

Sun closed his eyes and started to drift back into unconsciousness when he heard Chase cough. He opened his eyes wide as Chase threw Vayla's leg off and crawled over to Sun.

"Sun" Chase said huskily as he made it over to Sun. "Sun"

Chase was hastily applying bandages to Sun's wounds when he heard the sound of helicopter rotors. He looked up and saw Lunas landing the chopper. Chase grabbed Sun and began half dragging him in the direction of Lunas. Lunas ran over to them and pulled Sun to his feet, helping Chase with carrying Sun to the helicopter.

"The White Fang will be looking for us, you know." Lunas said.

"Lunas, we have to get Sun out of here."

"Da, I know a place."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>  
><strong>If you have any questions, check my profile or PM me. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881<strong>


	35. Chapter 35: Re-Aftermath

**Chapter 35: Re-Aftermath**

"Hey Lunas, how much farther is it? Sun won't hold up without attention for much longer." Chase asked as he looked up from where Sun was lying in a pool of blood.

"Almost there." Lunas called back from the cockpit of the helicopter.

Chase nodded and leaned back against the wall, thinking over what had just happened. The finals match in the tournament, the quick drive to the prisoners' location, chasing Vayla, killing her, and now the helicopter ride back to the only medic they knew that was close by: Krystal.

"There it is, bringing her down." Lunas maneuvered the helicopter to land on the roof of the building.

"Help me get Sun inside." Chase said as he grabbed one of Sun's arms.

"On it." Lunas hopped out and helped Sun down to the roof.

They had made it a few meters before the door burst open, admitting Ethan.

"You're alive!" He exclaimed.

Sun and Chase briefly glanced at each other before holding Sun up.

"Barely, now go get Krystal." Chase motioned for Ethan to hurry and continued towards the door.

This time, Chase and Lunas got through the door and down the steps before Krystal made it to them. She immediately gasped and ran over to Sun, checking him over.

"Give me room." She cleared a nearby table of its contents and set Sun down on it.

In the next few minutes, multiple people came over to see Sun while Krystal worked diligently to mend him, but they were quickly shooed away as they were deemed obstructive by Krystal. The only person she allowed to stay was Aurora, who constantly held Sun's hand.

"He'll be fine, just some pain when he awakes." Krystal announced after twenty minutes of work.

The room seemed to let out a sigh of relief and everyone withdrew back into their shells. Krystal looked at Sun one more time before addressing Aurora.

"Stay by him, he needs someone to be there when he wakes up."

Aurora nodded and quickly brought her gaze back to Sun. Krystal moved off to see if anyone needed immediate treatment and, finding none, was derailed by the sounds of shouting from one of the far corners. She started towards the noise in bewilderment and found a very one-sided conversation happening.

"WHERE IS SHE?" Yang screamed as she picked Lunas up by the collar.

"I honestly don't know." Lunas responded dejectedly, hanging his head.

Yang brought her arm back to deliver a punch but was stopped when Krystal laid a hand on it.

"This won't solve anything." Krystal gave Yang a disappointed look before pulling Lunas from her grasp.

"But…" Yang began before being interrupted again.

"Let's talk rationally, what is the issue here?"

"Blake. She's… She's…" Tears welled up in Yang's eyes as her anger was converted to despair. "Gone."

Yang completely lost it then and started bawling, leaning on Krystal as the sobs racked her body. Krystal could only set her down before grabbing Lunas and dragging him back to Sun and Aurora.

"Any change?" She asked Aurora as they sat down.

"Not so far." Aurora replied with a hint of sadness.

"Okay, keep an eye on him. As for you," Krystal turned to Lunas. "Start from the beginning. What happened with Blake?"

Lunas took a deep breath and began.

* * *

><p>"The whole point of this was to grab Blake and get her to a special group of White Fang, called the Vespers. They were offering a ten thousand dollar reward for her capture, and Vayla was set on obtaining it. After you guys defeated her the first time, she was disgraced by the White Fang and was left to her own devices. She convinced me to join with the promise of a cut of the winnings.<p>

"I trained with her for a while before she picked up Adam. Adam specialized in brainwashing and he quickly set himself to the task of converting Team SEAL. After that, it was just waiting for the right time to strike. The Vytal Tournament provided the perfect opportunity to kidnap Blake with minimal resistance.

"Everything went according to plan, and I was able to get Blake and escape easily. I took her here, where Vayla was waiting with a representative from the Vespers. The two negotiated a cost and Blake was taken away. Vayla was told to stay here for a little while longer while the Vespers checked the cargo and got the money together. That's what we were doing when all of you guys showed up."

Lunas sat back for a second and took a second to breathe.

"But are you on our side?" Aurora asked, looking up from Sun.

"I am now."

"What made you change, and how do I know you won't stab us in the back?"

"You want to know why? It's because I won't do anything to my brother. As for why I decided to switch sides, there were a few inconsistencies in Vayla's operation. But the real kicker was when Vayla sent me a list of your names. I saw Sun's name on the list and tried to further investigate your group. It was then that I began planning a way to take out Vayla."

"But if you made that decision before the assault, why did you kill Omega and let others die in front of you here?"

"That's the thing I feel worst about. I had to keep Vayla's trust in me, so I decided to follow her orders until I found the right situation to turn on her. It was very painful to watch Vayla go through the ranks of prisoners and force them to play Russian Roulette. I don't want to have to go through that again."

"Of course you don't, now you should probably rest. It will be a little while before we can leave here." Krystal shooed Lunas away and turned her attention to Aurora. "Do you trust him?"

Aurora opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted before she could speak.

"I do." Sun said.

"SUN! You're awake!" Aurora threw herself to him and landed a kiss on his cheek.

"Yeah, but not well." He groaned as he tried, and failed, to sit up.

"Stay down, don't exert yourself too much." Krystal advised as he sank back down.

"Trust me, I'm not going anywhere." Sun replied with a smile. "Now you should take a break, Krystal."

"But there are so many things to do!"

"And you can get them done faster if you're actually awake and fully paying attention."

"But…"

"Trust me, you need it."

Krystal wavered before finally moving away and laying down a few meters away.

"One crisis resolved, only a few million to go." Sun muttered.

* * *

><p>Krystal awoke to the sound of shouting. She rubbed her eyes and looked around blearily before standing up in a hurry as she saw what was happening.<p>

"What is going on?" She inquired to the nearest person to her.

"White Fang, they're here. Now hurry to the roof." Seven replied as she ran by.

"Why aren't you going there?"

"I'm getting the car ready, the chopper can't hold all of us."

Krystal paused a moment to take another look around. Aurora was helping Sun to the stairs, Hailey and Liz had grabbed Pyrrha and Ren from their state of shock, and Ruby had managed to calm Yang down enough to get her moving. Krystal grimaced as she let her gaze swing sideways to where the remainder of Team BOLT, Chase, Ethan, and Colton were picking up the numerous dead bodies.

"Help me load these into the chopper!" Chase called over to Krystal when he noticed she wasn't doing anything.

"On it!" She replied, sprinting over and picking up Nora's body off the ground.

The sound of an explosion reached them from outside and they all hurried as quickly as they could. The bodies were all loaded into the back and Team SCAR got in.

"We'll draw them away, you make sure to get back to Beacon safely!" Chase yelled.

"Don't die!" Krystal called back.

"I don't intend to," Chase muttered under his breath. "Let's go."

Chase led the way back down the stairs as the helicopter flew away.

"Stay frosty, this could get hairy."

Ethan pulled back the charge on his rifle while Seven readied her sword. They made their way through the hallway slowly, checking every corner on the way. They made it all the way to their car before engaging in any combat. Even so, it wasn't much, and it consisted of Ethan shooting a few rounds into three White Fang personnel.

"Get in, we're making our amazing getaway." Chase said as he slipped into the driver seat and started the car.

He shifted the car into reverse and it made its way back through the massive hole in the wall, running over a couple more White Fang operatives on the way.

"Let's move some metal." Chase smiled, throwing the car into first and beginning their chase through the city.

* * *

><p>"How much farther?" Blade asked Lunas from the co-pilot seat.<p>

"You're the one with the map in front of you, you tell me." Lunas responded in exasperation.

"Oh, right." Blade looked down at the random lights and gadgets that made up the console and sighed. "Not that I can read it."

"What a great use you are up there." Lance called from the back with a slight smile.

"Hey, I didn't ask for this. And you can't read it either." Came the acidic reply.

"Here, what does the blue number say?" Lunas finally caved and turned part of his attention to helping Blade.

"Twenty-Eight." Blade replied.

"That's how many klicks we are away."

"Uh, in english please?"

"Twenty-Eight kilometers."

"Still not english."

"Around seventeen and a half miles."

"Finally, he speaks english."

"That was all was english, did it sound like french to you?"

"Uh, no."

"Spanish?"

"No."

"What then?"

"It just sounded like you were making up words."

Lunas facepalmed and turned his attention back to the flying.

"Never mind then, just try not to die of stupidity on the way there." He said in disgust.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>This is the last chapter that I am releasing daily, as this is the last chapter that I have previously uploaded. The next chapter will be released next Sunday, and subsequent chapters will be released every Sunday. If you have any questions, check my profile or PM me. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881  
><strong>


	36. Chapter 36: Return of a Madman

**Chapter 36: Return of a Madman**

_**2 Weeks Later**_

"I know you're still not acclimatized to life without her, but we need to get to class." Krystal sighed as Ruby shook her head from her position on the ground.

The last two weeks had been a nightmare for Krystal, as there were a lot of injured people to attend to, both physically and mentally. She had been helping out at the medical facilities at Beacon even before the Vytal Tournament, but this was taking it to a whole new level. These were her friends, and a lot of them had lost very close friends. And even after all the work she had put into bringing them back to normal, she knew that these scars would last a long time.

"Here, let me help you get there." She reached down and grabbed Ruby by the arm, pulling her to her feet.

"Thanks." Ruby muttered before allowing herself to be led to the classroom.

Krystal sighed again, thinking about each of the people who had been injured. First, the physical ones, who were the easiest. Sun had recovered quite quickly and had already made a full recovery. Lunas, who had suffered a minor fracture in his ribs after falling off a building chasing Vayla, had come in for treatment once and had left the school on a scouting trip. And Hailey, with her numerous bruises after being beaten by Vayla multiple times, was almost completely healed again.

"And Krystal?" Ruby said as she looked back with puffy eyes.

"Yes?" Krystal, who was temporarily interrupted from her thought, replied.

"Thanks for all of your help, I don't know if I would be coping without you."

Krystal was taken aback, because that had been the longest sentence Ruby had said in the last two weeks. Of all of the injured, the mental ones were the worst off, and Ruby was at the very bottom. Ren, Pyrrha, and Ruby had all lost lovers, BOLT had lost Omega, and Hailey had lost her whole team. Hailey and Pyrrha had been the strongest, keeping their heads held high and only breaking down in occasional therapy sessions. Team BOLT had been bad for a while, but they had quickly realized that grieving didn't help. They were even looking for a replacement. Ruby and, surprisingly, Ren were the most damaged. Krystal had to help Ruby get to every class, similar to today. It seemed like she had lost the will to do anything, quite a stark contrast from her usual cheery and bouncy self. Ren had completely vanished, and nobody knew where he was. The search for him was long called off, as it had been a full week now since the disappearance. Everyone was worried about his mental state, but nobody was worried about him getting injured while gone.

"You... you're welcome, Ruby." Krystal replied, the words a whisper in the air, again bringing herself back to the present. "I like helping people."

Of everyone, Krystal had probably changed the most. Gone was the carefree and total joking attitude, and now she had become very serious about her work. She reserved her previous side for Colton, who had fallen in love with her for it before.

The trip to class was uneventful, except for a minor encounter with a manic Yang. She was rushing around the school, trying to find a lead on Blake's whereabouts. That was someone that Krystal had missed in the "injured" area. Yang had become very moody and trigger-happy with the loss of her calming girlfriend. She spent all of her time doing just this: Searching for a way to get to Blake. She had even yelled at Sun and Lunas for killing Vayla and destroying their only source of knowledge on the subject.

"And here we are, now let's actually pay attention today, okay?" Krystal asked as she placed her hand on the door to Kipmud's classroom.

"You don't have to…" Ruby began muttering before breaking off.

"What was that?"

"...Patronize me." She finished, shoving Krystal out of the way and opening the door herself.

Krystal sighed again and followed her in, already so excited for class to be over.

* * *

><p>Lunas stalked through the shadows, using his Semblance any time he had to break cover. His goal was to infiltrate a Vesper meeting and try to gather intel on Blake's whereabouts. He froze and activated his Semblance as a flashlight swept past his position in the tall grass. It was a tense minute before the light moved on and he was able to relax again. He continued onwards, drawing closer and closer to the secluded mansion at the end of the driveway he was moving parallel to.<p>

"...heard they found someone on the outer perimeter." A passing guard remarked to his friend.

"Really? A spy of some sort?" The other guard replied.

"I dunno, but he was wearing a green suit-looking thing."

"Strange, but…" The guards moved out of earshot, but not before Lunas had gotten an idea of who they might have caught.

"Why are you here?" He asked himself silently as he continued forwards.

He made it to the mansion without further incident and activated his Semblance again, sliding out of cover and pressing himself against the wall as he did so. It was a few meters to a hedge and he slipped behind it. He looked around before deactivating his Semblance and sighed in relief.

"Still not caught." He thought to himself with a smile.

"...moving him into the basement. Why there, why not the prison cell? They're just a bunch of idiots. I should go give them a piece of my…" Another guard muttered to himself on the way by, giving Lunas his second useful piece of information about the spy.

Lunas paused, debating what he should do. Should he continue onwards and eavesdrop on the meeting? Or should he go rescue the spy from his prison? Lunas checked his watch and made his decision. There was still forty five minutes until the meeting was due to begin, so he had ample time to try to save the prisoner. Mind now set on a plan, Lunas began moving again. He made it to the target window and brought out a vial of corrosive dust. He poured some on the lock and waited a couple seconds for the locking mechanism to be destroyed.

"Come on, work faster." He thought to himself as he felt the seconds tick by.

"...smell that?" A guard mentioned, making Lunas tense up.

"What?" His partner inquired with a strange look on his face.

"It smells like burning."

"I don't smell anything."

"That's because you're , but you could be right. It's probably just my imagination getting to me, let's move on."

"Okay, so about…" The guards continued onwards, completely unaware of the figure in the shadows.

The lock snapped and Lunas turned to it, easing the window open.

"Alright, time to save the damsel in distress." He said as he hopped inside.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A Floor Below<strong>_

"Hmm, a ripple in the universe, someone just called me a damsel." Ren thought as he broke meditation. "Wait, I am not a damsel!"

* * *

><p>"I hope he's okay." Sun said as he laid back on his bed.<p>

Aurora threw him a sidelong glance and sighed.

"Which one are you talking about? There are quite a lot of people who are in positions for you to ask that."

"Lunas. He's gone on that mission all alone. I shouldn't have let him do that, I should've gone."

"He did say that it would be harder with multiple people."

"I know, but…"

"No. You know how stealth works, Sun."

Sun paused for a second to collect his thoughts, letting his breath out slowly as he regained control.

"You're right, sorry."

Aurora smiled and moved closer to hug him.

"Don't be, I understand where that came from. You're just worried about him, that's all."

Sun was about to respond when Colton and Krystal burst in, coming straight from Kipmud's class.

"That, was hard." Krystal exclaimed as she plopped down face first onto her bed.

"I'm sure it was, I can't imagine doing what you do." Colton replied, sitting down next to her.

"Why can't everyone be back to normal?" She buried her face in Colton's shirt and started to cry.

"I know, I know, calm down." Colton shot a pleading glance at Aurora before turning his attention back to his girlfriend.

Aurora got the message and moved to assist, sitting down beside them. Sun watched before walking out the door, in search of someone. Aurora frowned but let him go, instead staying on the bed.

"What has this world come to?" Sun asked himself, closing the door behind him.

He strolled aimlessly through the halls, encountering next to no one even though it was only seven. He found himself in the library, walking in between the shelves. He was about to leave when a book caught his eye. He picked it up and looked at the title with a slightly confused look.

"'Thus Kindly I Scatter'. Where have I read this before?" Sun thought to himself, thinking back to all of the times he had checked out a book from the library.

He spent the next few minutes deep in thought, taking more time than it should have to come up with the answer. It finally dawned on him that this was the first book he had ever checked out. He thought back to that time, where he had had only one problem: A team to be on. That seemed like nothing compared to losing so many of his friends and having to deal with the aftermath every day. Things had been so simple back then, and he wished he could go back to that time.

"I should read it again for old times' sake." Sun said aloud gloomily, still thinking about how things had changed.

"That's the key to finding me, Sun. Come find me." A voice seemed to say.

Sun turned and there beside him was Blake, but something wasn't right. She was outlined by a black mist, and she seemed to be flickering. Sun was speechless for a second before getting his mouth to work.

"B- Blake, you're alive! How are you? Where are you? How did you get here?"

Blake seemed to smile at the slew of questions and tilted her head thoughtfully.

"Yes, I am alive. I'm fine… ish. I'm being held hostage somewhere. And this is a projection of me, I'm not really here."

"But then what is this in front of me?"

Blake opened her mouth to speak before being interrupted by a jovial male voice.

"That would be my Semblance, monkey boy. The ability to project a memory into the physical world."

"And who would you be?" Sun asked, annoyed.

"Well let me show you, we've met before."

The image shifted before him and a familiar orange haired villain looking into a mirror appeared.

"Recognize me now?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>**Alright, now we're back to normal. Check my profile for scheduling, but as of now it is every Sunday. This story is taking an interesting turn and I hope you guys are enjoying it. I am having quite a fun time writing these chapters and I can't wait to release some of the upcoming ones. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**  
><strong>


	37. Chapter 37: Blake's Secret

**Chapter 37: Blake's Secret**

The only sound was a soft thud as Lunas dropped into the bathroom. He checked his surroundings, making sure there was nobody else in the room. Luckily, the only other person was a guard using the bathroom in one of the stalls. Lunas wrinkled his nose and tried to ignore the grunts of exertion as he passed by. He made it to the door before changing his mind. Doubling back, Lunas pulled out his dirk and braced himself by the door of the stall the guard was in.

'_Come on, hurry up. I don't have all-_' Lunas' thoughts were interrupted by the door opening.

He lashed out with the hilt of the dirk and hit the guard in the back of his head. The guard dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes and Lunas quickly stripped the guard and put the clothes over his. He gagged as the overwhelming smell hit him, but he stumbled out of the bathroom quickly.

"Calypse! I was worried, I heard a noise and almost came in there!" A woman ran over to him as soon as he cleared the door.

She wrapped him up in a hug and started dragging him away. He resisted for a second before realizing that she was taking him right to where he wanted to go. This was going to work out perfectly, as long as the woman didn't figure out he wasn't "Calypse".

"I know you have that pesky prisoner to attend to, but I have a surprise for you first, come with me." The woman changed direction again, causing Lunas to start resisting once again.

"Don't be scared, it's a good kind of surprise." The woman continued when she felt the amount of resistance he was putting up. "One we can both enjoy."

She led him into a room and the last glimpse through the rapidly closing door was the woman starting to take off her shirt, and Lunas averting his eyes.

* * *

><p>"Recognize me now?"<p>

"Torchwick." Sun almost spat the words out.

"Yes, it's been a while, you ape."

"But where have you been all this time, and what are you doing with Blake?"

"Boy, I have orchestrated this whole thing. Vayla provided me Blake, and then got herself killed. As annoying as it is to lose her, I'm glad I don't have to waste ten thousand lien on her."

"But why Blake?"

"Why? She deserted the White Fang."

"But that isn't your reason, is it? You couldn't care less about the faunus race."

Torchwick glared at him for a second, before breaking into a smile.

"You're smart for an animal. No, I don't care about the White Fang, nor any of their interests. I want Blake for another reason, she's very special. She is one of the rare hybrids in this world."

"She's half faunus and half human?"

"No."

"Then what is she?"

"Think about it, boy. What else could there possibly be?"

"Half actual cat?"

"C'mon, think harder with that puny monkey brain of yours."

"But there isn't anything else if she's not part animal."

"Really? What is it that you fight every day?"

"...You're kidding."

"Go ahead, say it."

"You're not suggesting she's part Grimm, are you?" Sun breathed

"There you go, you idiot. She's half Grimm and half faunus. I'll leave you to figure out what that means."

The connection was cut and Sun sighed in relief. Through Torchwick's explanation, he had been typing on his scroll behind his back. Now the fruits of his labor showed. Ruby had messaged back, she had been successful in recovering all of the audio files from the last few minutes. She was moving to present all of the information to Ozpin now.

"Holy Apollo, what just happened?" Sun asked out loud as he sank to a sitting position, back pressed against one of the numerous bookshelves that surrounded him.

* * *

><p>Lunas stumbled out of the room looking very pale, leaving behind a groaning naked woman. He had finally knocked her out after he had snapped out of his confusion. He shook his head and put those last few minutes behind him.<p>

'_Forget about it, just focus on Ren and then the meeting._' He thought to himself as he rounded a corner and found himself next to the stairs.

He casually strolled down them and nodded to a passing guard. He found himself standing before a door after a couple flights of stairs, and he took a second to collect himself before pushing through. He examined his surroundings, taking the time to look everywhere. There was a prison cell on his left and he walked over to it. His eyes widened as he saw the meditating form of Ren inside.

"Ren?" He whispered.

"...Yes?" Ren replied without moving.

"I'm here to get you out."

Ren's usually calm demeanor was lost at this, and Ren rushed over to the lock.

"How? I've tried everything."

"With this." Lunas held up the vial of acid he had used to get into the mansion.

"Hurry."

Lunas carefully poured a bit of acid onto the lock, watching as it started to corrode the iron.

"Lunas, behind you." Ren whispered, moving back further into the cage.

Lunas looked back in time to see the elevator doors opening. He leaped to the side, taking cover behind a crate as the guards made their way out of the elevator.

"Do you smell that?" The first asked.

"What does it smell like?" The second replied.

"Like something's burning."

"Again? We've been over this, there's nothing."

"But… Fine, let's just make sure the prisoner is still there."

They moved to the cage, not noticing the acid that was burning the lock. They stood facing Lunas' position, with their backs to the door. Ren crept over to the door as quietly as possible and put his hand around the lock to prevent it from falling to the ground. The lock snapped quietly and Ren slowly eased the door open. Lunas rose from his hiding spot, attracting the attention of the guards.

"Hey-" The guard's cry was cut short by Ren's aura-infused fist striking the back of his neck.

The other guard started to turn and was taken out in a similar fashion.

"Good job, now can you help me with something?" Lunas asked.

"I'm all yours." Ren replied as he grabbed Stormflower from the table.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean? How can I be half Grimm?" Blake yelled at the orange haired man in front of her.<p>

"You really don't remember?" Torchwick replied with an amused look on his face.

Blake just shook her head in anger and continued glaring at him.

"Fine, I'll explain. But it'll have to be snappy, I have a meeting to go to." Torchwick looked at the clock before continuing. "There are many traits that you have that point to you being part Grimm. First, your personality. You are very cold and withdrawn from the world around you. Second, your favorite color is black. Although this is a color loved by many, you seem to take it to the extreme. You feel drawn to it because it is the predominant color for the Grimm. Third, and most important, is your Semblance. Your Semblance is Shadow, the name itself says a lot, which allows you to create temporary copies of yourself. This is similar to how the Grimm reproduce. The Grimm are not separated into male or female, they are unisex. They reproduce when two of them find a secluded area and one sits down to focus on creating a copy of itself while the other stands guard. After three days of staying still, the first Grimm is able to create a perfect replica, albeit smaller. The 'child' ends up looking like a mixture of both because the first Grimm had an image of both itself and its partner in its mind. It puts the two together and this is how the 'child looks'."

"But that could all just be circumstantial." Blake suggested, knowing Torchwick would probably have an answer and really not give a damn.

"It could, and I agree that those facts alone aren't enough. But…" Torchwick leaned in and sneered as he prepared to deliver the final blow. "It doesn't explain your parentage. Your mother was a very… should I say, interesting person. She followed all orders of the higher up without question, but one day she disappeared. Nobody had any clue as to where she had gone, and the White Fang quickly gave up the search and proclaimed her dead. But after about a week she returned with a baby held in her hands. She was thrown into prison two years later when she was falsely accused of murdering another White Fang member. She was brought in and interrogated about the murder. They quickly discovered that she would not give them anything other than pleas of innocence and moved the questions to her disappearance two years earlier. They found out that she had been taken in by a Grimm after saving it from another Grimm. They had formed a bond and she had protected it during the copying process. The baby had turned out more human than Grimm though, so the Grimm gave it to your mother to protect. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend."

Torchwick took a second to make sure Blake was tied tight and strolled out of the room, whistling a pleasant tune and leaving behind a very confused and frustrated Blake.

* * *

><p>Lunas crawled through the ventilation network slowly, taking care to not make any noise. Ren was right behind him, just as silent. The two made it to a vent overlooking a room with a table and checked around for any evidence of the meeting taking place in the next few minutes. They were just about to move on when Roman Torchwick entered the room, whistling something. They watched as Torchwick sat down in one of the chairs and clapped his hands. Around six people came out and sat down in the chairs as well. Only one chair was left to be filled and everyone in the room held their breath when the final person walked in at precisely nine.<p>

"Welcome everyone, to this meeting of the Vespers." She said as she sat down.

"Hello, Cinder." Torchwick replied, leaning back in his chair.

"Hello, Roman." Cinder said through clenched teeth. "Now, the subject of this meeting is Blake Belladonna, and what to do with her."

"I propose we kill her, she could be a threat to us at some point." One of the representatives of the White Fang supplied.

"Much as I love murder, I don't think that is the best strategy, any other ideas?"

"I suggest we keep her for testing, just like I am presently doing." Torchwick suggested.

"And what is the benefit of that?"

"We can use her to better understand the effect that a parent Grimm has on a child. Also, she can be used to manipulate the pesky Beacon kids who killed my stepdaughter."

"I see, anyone agree with this idea?"

Four hands were raised, including Torchwick. Cinder nodded and continued.

"It's settled then, this vote goes in favor of Roman Torchwick keeping Blake Belladonna and using her for both examination and manipulation. I am glad that we were able to settle that so quickly. I expect you to formulate a plan and relay it to me by Thursday, Roman."

"Will do." Torchwick nodded his head.

"Thank you everyone for attending, this meeting is now adjourned." Cinder walked out as soon as she finished.

Lunas and Ren looked at each other before edging back away from the grate and starting on their way out.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>Welp, plot twist. I never would have thought when I started that I would have Blake be half Grimm, but I guess that I have now done it. This has been an interesting story to write, as even I have no idea where it will end up. But enough of that, thank you so much for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**


	38. Chapter 38: The Triumphant Return

**Chapter 38: The Triumphant Return**

Sun finally stood up, deciding he had been immobile for long enough.

'_Gotta find Yang._' He thought as he exited the library.

He headed straight for Ozpin's office, knowing that Yang had gone there with the information he had collected. On the way, he came across Aurora, who immediately dropped everything and joined him when he told her what was going on. The couple made it in record time and knocked on the wooden doors.

"Come in." Ozpin's voice sounded strained, so Sun opened the door tentatively.

"Ozpin, has Yang been in here yet?" Sun asked, looking around.

"Yes, she has. I'm surprised you didn't hear her out there."

Sun raised an eyebrow and Ozpin elaborated in a tired voice.

"She was a wreck. The news about Blake has really thrown her. Add that to how unstable she was before, and you have a bomb waiting for the right time to blow."

"To think that Yang can go from a fun loving girl to this one dimensional machine." Aurora sighed unhappily.

"What can we do about her?" Sun set his hands on the table.

"I've had a grand total of five minutes to think about it, and the only solution I have thought of is to find Blake. Otherwise, Yang will literally burn this school down."

"But we've been trying to, with little to no success."

"You know she's with Torchwick now, that's a step in the right direction."

"But how would we know where Torchwick is?"

"He's easier to find than you think." Ozpin pulled out his scroll and showed the screen to Sun. "This is the signal from a tracking device that we were able to put on his personal bullhead the night of the robbing of 'From Dust Till Dawn'."

"But how come you are only now showing us this? Why haven't we gone for him yet?" Aurora asked in bewilderment.

"We were too busy with Vayla, who popped up out of nowhere and took top priority after she captured Miss Schnee."

Sun began pacing the room while Aurora asked the questions.

"But what if Roman doesn't use that bullhead any more, than what do we do?"

Ozpin paused before answering slowly, as if he was just now working it out.

"We don't know that, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Okay, what do you want us to do?"

"I want you to get in contact with Lunas, I sent him on a mission to infiltrate a Vesper meeting today."

"Don't remind me." Sun muttered under his breath.

"See if he has any info on the Vesper movement and if Torchwick has anything to do with them. If so, that makes it even easier."

"What do we do after that?"

"Use that information to formulate a plan with your friends. I am trusting a great deal of this situation to you because of the rising possibility of all-out war with the Grimm. I just can't risk any of the top level teams."

"Don't worry, we'll get it done."

* * *

><p>"How are they?" Krystal asked as she walked in the door.<p>

"Better. They've gotten to the point of not trying to kill me as soon as I go in with them." Pyrrha replied.

They were talking about the remains of Team SEAL. The story of SEAL was interesting: They had been a star team in their first year, always succeeding in every assignment they were given. Their second year had started out top notch as well, before they were charged with the task of helping RWBY get Weiss back. There, they lost Lysoc to helicopter gunfire. Then things went even further south when they got trapped inside a warehouse, forced to stay behind to ensure the escape of everyone else. Sandman detonated a massive flashbang and tried to lead Everett and Archer out safely, but they were surrounded outside. Even though they fought had hard, they were captured by the White Fang operative named Adam in the end. They were brainwashed and forced to fight against their former friends. Finally, they had been recovered and sent back to Beacon for the reverse-brainwashing sequence. Now here they were, with Pyrrha in charge of getting them back to normal.

"That's a plus." Krystal smiled, thinking that those were few and far between these days.

"Yes, I've grown quite fond of living," Pyrrha murmured.

"Is there anyone who is standing out to you? Maybe they're recovering better?"

"...Not that I've seen, although Archer is more scared of me than the other two."

Krystal sighed, it would be a long road to recovery for SEAL.

"Thanks for updating me, I'm going to a team meeting here soon. Come to think of it, you should be too. The people invited are my team, RWBY, BOLT, Hailey and you."

"I'll think about it, but it all depends on them." Pyrrha responded with a gesture at SEAL.

"Alright, see you then." Krystal walked out and sighed again, wishing for the hundredth time that everything could be back to the way is was before.

* * *

><p>"I have gathered you all here today to discuss what we will do about Blake and Roman Torchwick." Sun started as he stood up.<p>

Around him were all of his closest friends and best fighters, sitting in a circle before him. Everyone had come, even Pyrrha, and he wanted to start as quickly as possible.

"Blake was captured by Vayla after Team RWBY's Vytal Tournament fight with my team. She was then held captive for a while before being handed over to a mysterious group called the Vespers. Now we don't know much about them, except that it is a top criminal organization that is led by a committee."

"Do we know who any of the members of the committee are?" Hailey asked, raising her hand.

"We have reason right now to assume that Roman Torchwick is one of them. He seems to be in possession of Blake for the time being."

"Do we have any more information on the Vespers?" Blade cut in.

"We have a location that they meet at once every week."

"Well then why haven't we done anything with this?" Lance started to get up, but stopped when he realized Sun still had more to say.

"Who's to say we haven't? My brother, Lunas, was sent to the location to infiltrate and observe one of these meetings. We will get more information on the Vespers from him as soon as he gets back."

"And when will that be?"

"Sometime in the next half hour or so."

"What will we do once he gets back? We need Blake here, where she belongs." Yang spoke up for the first time, having been surprisingly quiet so far.

"Ozpin has said that the only option right now is to formulate a plan to get her. He's tied up with preparing for war against the Grimm."

"It's gotten that bad?" Pyrrha spoke up.

"Yes it has, the Grimm are gathering into areas that could prevent easy movement between kingdoms, and it's getting worse by the day."

"That's not important right now, what are we going to do about Blake?" Yang tried to move the conversation back to the original direction.

"Right, I suggest that we have a group of four constantly working to find Blake. Everyone else is needed here for either studies or war preparations."

"Which four were you thinking?" Lance asked.

"I was thinking Lunas, Hailey, Blade, and Yang. These four will be working on finding Blake around the clock. If you find her, tell all of us and we will decide what to do then. Does everybody understand?"

Heads all around the circle nodded and Sun relaxed in his chair.

"Then thanks for attending, Blake group should immediately begin searching as soon as Lunas comes back. Everyone else, go through your day normally but be prepared for anything at all times, you never know when Blake will be found. Thanks again, and enjoy the rest of your day."

* * *

><p>"That was amazing, Sun. You're acting more like a leader every day." Aurora whispered as Sun laid back on his bed with a sigh.<p>

"I guess, but it's left me worn out." He replied.

"You did great, you didn't look tired at all."

"Thanks, but right now I just want to sleep."

"If that's what you want to do, then I won't stop you. But as a reward for my favorite half-monkey…" Aurora smiled slyly and lay down beside him in the bed, scooting over to be pressed up against him.

"Get ready for a _really_ good night's sleep after this." She said as she kissed him.

* * *

><p>"Welcome back." Hailey greeted Lunas as soon as he crossed Beacon's threshold with Ren in tow.<p>

"Um, thanks." Lunas responded, taken aback by how quickly he had been greeted.

He could see that Hailey wasn't the only one here, as Yang and Blade stood alongside her.

'_Why are they all here? I should be reporting to Ozpin right now._' He thought

"Any news?"

"Uh, yeah. Roman Torchwick is in possession of Blake, and he is going to use her for 'examination'. Whatever that means."

Hailey and Blade shared a look before grabbing Lunas and leading him towards Ozpin's office.

"Woah, what's the emergency?" He was very confused now.

"You need to report to both Sun and Ozpin, but seeing as how Sun is asleep, Ozpin is your only choice right now." Hailey tossed the words over her shoulder at him.

"You also need to be informed of everything that's going on." Blade added.

"Like what? Seriously, what the hell is happening?" Lunas was getting more distressed every second.

"While you were at the meeting, we received a sort of message from Torchwick. He talked to Sun and let it 'slip' that Blake isn't what she seems."  
>"How so?"<p>

"Well, I should let Ozpin explain. We'll be waiting out here."

Lunas glanced back at Ren, gesturing for him to stay out. Then he knocked on the great oak doors.

"Come in." Came the reply from inside.

Lunas opened the door and walked inside.

* * *

><p>It was three seconds after Lunas went inside that Ren became the center of attention.<p>

"Ren, you're back!"

"What happened?"

"Where did you go?"

"Why are you with Lunas?"

Ren waited for all of the questions to die down before speaking.

"I, ah, heard about the Vesper location and decided to check it out myself."

"Did it go well?"

Ren allowed a minute smile onto his face.

"Not in the slightest, I was captured at the perimeter and sent to a cell in the basement."

"How did you get out?"

"Lunas saved me. We then spied on the meeting and got out right after."

"But why would you try to go to the Vesper meeting alone?"

"I wanted... I wanted revenge." Ren declined to mention that his plan had been to kill all of the Vespers, not just spy on them. "Now if you'll excuse me, I would like a little time to myself."

Ren sat down on the ground and quickly got into in the lotus position. Everyone else let him be for a while before Ozpin called from inside.

"Could you send Ren in, please?"

Ren was deep in meditation and Hailey had to shake him to break his concentration.

"What?" He asked, more than slightly annoyed.

"Ozpin wants you." Hailey replied.

"Thank you for waking me."

"You were asleep?" Blade looked confused.

Ren just looked back with a small smile before turning and walking through the massive oak doors.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>I deeply apologize for missing last Sunday on the upload schedule. I was away from home all weekend and I never had the chance to upload. Again, I'm sorry, and I hope you guys can forgive me. This is a little bit of set up for the next few chapters, and quite a step away from the more actiony previous ones. Thank you so much for reading and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**


	39. Chapter 39: Hybrids

**Pre-Chapter Author's Note: I have gotten a code for a free month of Hulu Plus that I would like to give out to anybody who wants it. If you do, send me a PM and I will give it to the first person who messages me.**

**Chapter 39: Hybrids**

Lunas let the door swing closed behind him as he walked up to the desk.

"Hello again, Lunas. What information do you bring me this time?" Ozpin asked as Lunas sat down.

"First off, Roman Torchwick is in possession of Blake." Lunas responded.

"Go on."

"The Vespers have agreed to let him keep her for two reasons. First, testing. Apparently she can provide details about Grimm?"

Genuine confusion flickered into Ozpin's face, like a candle with a fresh flame. "How is this possible?"

"Well, you see. While you were gone, Roman actually contacted Sun using his Semblance. He gave us a single clue to throw us off: Blake is half Grimm."

Keeping in line with the candle metaphor, Ozpin now looked like a candle that been told it was a lamp. "...You're kidding me."

"Unfortunately, no. What other use does Blake have to the Vespers?"

Ozpin laid his head on his hands before answering.

"Manipulation. They believe that they can use Blake as a means of controlling us. And they would be right on some fronts. Yang is even more insane than before, and everyone else is almost as eager to get Blake back as her."  
>"Are you saying you don't care?"<p>

"Not at all, I'm saying that I have no choice but to focus on the war right now."

"What war?"

"The Grimm. They are gathering in the roadways between the kingdoms, blocking all methods of ground transportation."

"They've never done that before."

"I know, and that's what worries me. But that's not something you should concern yourself with just yet. Focus on getting Blake back and then we can repurpose your crew. Is there anything else you would like to tell me before you are dismissed?"

"No, I think that's- wait, Ren's back."

"He is? I thought he abandoned."

"He did, kind of. I'll let him explain."

"He's here?"

"Yes, call him in."

"Could you send Ren in, please?" Ozpin asked, raising his voice to be heard from outside.

It was twenty seconds before Ren slipped through the door. He walked to the desk and sat down beside Lunas.

"You rang?"

"I did, where have you been?"

"Just, hanging around."

Ozpin gave a death glare at that and Ren finally broke.

"I heard about the meeting from you and wanted to go see for myself. I spent a few days scouting out the area around it, but when I tried to infiltrate I was caught."

"But why? You knew that I would send someone."

"I, uh, wanted to get back at them for Nora."

"You of all people should know that revenge isn't the answer to everything."

Ren just sat there, trying to keep his rising anger from showing on his face.

"I know, sir." He said through clenched teeth.

Ozpin looked hard at the seething student in front of him before laying off.

"Thank you both for coming, you are dismissed."

* * *

><p>Lunas and Ren pushed through the door and found themselves face to face with Hailey again.<p>

"Come with me." She said shortly.

"Why? What's going on?" Lunas asked as he was dragged through the halls with a still very angry Ren in tow.

"Sun's up, he'll explain everything."

"Ha, I see what you did-" A random student started before being smacked by Hailey on the way by.

Lunas looked back fearfully, making a mental note not to anger Hailey in the future. They quickly arrived at SCAR's room and Hailey knocked.

"It's open!" Sun called from the inside.

Lunas broke free from Hailey and led the way inside. Sun's expression lit up when he saw his brother, perfectly intact.

"Lunas! You're okay!" Sun rushed over and hugged him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But I won't be if you don't let go." Lunas managed to choke out.

Sun smiled, releasing his brother from his grasp and taking a step back.

"So how did it go?"

"Overall, good. I was able to get some information about the Vespers… and I saved him." Lunas gestured backward to where Ren and Hailey were standing.

"Oh Ren, you're back! Funny how I didn't notice him until you brought it up."

"Yeah, I'm back." Ren replied.

Sun raised an eyebrow and turned his attention back to Lunas.

"Have you seen Ozpin yet?"

"Yes, he's alerted me to some of the goings on around here." Lunas replied, slightly sarcastic.

"So the main thing you need to be told now is our future plans. I have assembled a strike force to track Blake around the clock."

"Who all is on this 'strike force'?"

"You, Hailey, Blade, and Yang."

"Hmm, I can work with them. But I want Ren on it too."  
>"Why?"<p>

"I liked working with him at the mansion."

Sun paused for a minute before answering.

"I'm sure I'll hear about what happened at some point. But to answer your question, sure."

"One question: What about the rest of you?"

"We need to stay in class and prepare for the Grimm War that is fast approaching."

"And we're expendable?"

"Well you're not enrolled here, Hailey doesn't have a team any more, Blade can be very useful to you, Yang refuses to do anything but look for Blake anyway, and Ren has pretty much gone rogue already."

"I'm right here, you know." Ren said, not amused.

"Sorry. The point is, you guys are not only expendable, but you have the best chance of finding Blake."

"I'm glad you thought of me, we'll find her."

"Thanks, I know I can count on you."

Sun hugged his brother again before watching as Lunas led the way out the door, Hailey and Ren close behind.

"Whew, that was close." Aurora rolled out from the bed, partially clothed.

Sun just rolled his eyes and threw her a pair of shorts and a shirt.

"Good to know you're good at acting like a dead body."

Aurora smiled ruefully and caught the clothing.

"I'm sure it'll come in handy at some point."

* * *

><p>Yang woke up at exactly six the next morning and began the routine she had become accustomed to ever since Blake had been gone. Wake up, shower, get dressed, grab a Pop Tart from the cafeteria, hit some punching bags in the gym, and finally begin searching for Blake using her scroll. She was in the middle of the last one when Lunas walked up behind her.<p>

"Hey." He said, laying his hand on Yang's shoulder.

Yang jumped and turned around, eyes turning red and hair becoming brighter.

"What?"

"Calm down, I just wanted to ask you about any information you may have gotten so far on Blake's whereabouts."

"Oh," Yang was taken aback, this wasn't the response she had expected. "I haven't gotten anything huge yet, but I do know the location of a high ranking White Fang officer."

"Hmm, do you think he would know anything about Blake?"

"First, 'he' is a girl. Second, I would bet a good amount on her knowing, she's also a member of the Vespers."

"What is her name?"

"Kaitel Rashuda."

"Where is she?"

"She will be at the Pashar al Damah, one of the most renowned casinos in Vale, all day tomorrow. Turns out she's quite a gambler."

"Well now she's gambling with her life."

"She better hope she's lucky."

"Luck is no factor for us, we'll get her no matter what."

* * *

><p>"Hurry, we have to get to class." Krystal grabbed Colton's arm and pulled him through the hallways.<p>

"Krystal?" Colton asked in between tripping.

"Yes?"

"We're heading the wrong way again."

Krystal stopped and facepalmed.

"I thought I could do it, I've been studying every night on how to understand direction."

"It's whatever, just follow me to class."

With Colton leading, they made it to Port's classroom in under thirty seconds. They sat down just as the bell rang, signaling the start of class.

"Glad you could make it, Mr. Canius and Ms. Rain. And welcome everyone to Grimm Studies, with your teacher, Professor Port." Port started. "That would be… me."

"I never would have guessed." One student sarcastically muttered.

"Today, we will be discussing multiple things, ending on hybrids."

Class went on as boringly as usual, with most students falling asleep at some point in the class. Finally, Port directed the conversation to hybrids.

"We will be talking about human/faunus hybrids, or as I like to call them, Hunus."

Boos echoed throughout the classroom, making Port rethink.

"Uh, bad joke. Anyways, these 'faumans' are more similar to the fauness than humans. They have the telling animal body parts, but they are not nearly as large. For instance, a fox faunus may have a thirty centimeter tail, but a fox fauman may have a fifteen centimeter tail. Aside from that, there is really not much of a difference. The reason this is is because humans and faunus don't really have too many differences to begin with. The sad thing about them is that they never seem to fit anywhere. The humans usually don't like them because they are part faunus and the fauness don't like them because they are part human. Because of this, they stand on the thin line between the two races, with only their immediate friends for comfort. A lot of them even hide that fact that they are faumans just to dodge the ridicule that could be thrown at them. Any questions?"

Colton raised his hand, nodding as Port called on him.

"What if, hypothetically of course, there was a Grimm that mated with either a human or faunus?" He asked.

Port seemed flustered by the idea but continued on valiantly. "That's preposterous."

"So there's no chance?" Colton leaned back and smiled.

"Well, there has been no record of any such thing happening, but I guess it could happen."

This marked the first time in Port's long teaching career that every student was awake and listening intently, as this was the first time they had seen Port deviate from the lesson plan.

"Grimm reproduce via a version of copying themselves. In short, one Grimm imagines an image of themself into existence. This is usually another Grimm that they see, so the child looks like them. I guess this could work with humans/fauness as well. The Grimm sees a human and imagines the child to look like them. This would mean that the child would look like the parent, shockingly so, in fact. They might even look like clones. The only problem would be internal organs. The Grimm can't see the insides of humans, so it would have no idea what organs there are and where they go. And so, this theory is debunked. Thank you for the question Colton, but it appears that what you described is an impossibility."

The bell went off and, in an amazing turn of events, everyone groaned as they were forced to leave.

"We will continue with this discussion next time. Class dismissed, and remember, stay vigilant." Port said as he sat down to think through the idea further.

* * *

><p>Lunas led the way through the brush surrounding the casino, everyone else close behind. The night was cold, and the faint noise of shouting people blew past them on the wind.<p>

"Come on, little ducklings, we have a ways to go yet." He whispered, much to the chagrin of the rest.

Many eye rolls later, the group set off again. They dodged between cars to get through the parking lot and found themselves beside the casino in no time. They split up, with Lunas and Ren running around to the other side of the building, Blade and Hailey staying, and Yang walking up to the front doors. They were trying a three pronged attack strategy, infiltrating from the front and both sides. They had planned exactly where they would be when the casino finally closed and they planned to grab the target while she was on her way back to her room.

"Everybody ready?" Lunas asked over his throat mic.

"Ready." They replied.

"Alright then, let's go."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>I am very proud of some of the jokes I was able to make in this chapter, and none of you can tell me differently. Again, if you want the Hulu Plus free month trial send me a PM. I would like to thank my editor Leviticus Wilkes for telling me that my original chapter was absolute crap and to fix it in no uncertain terms. It actually really helped the final build of this chapter in my view. As always if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**


	40. Chapter 40: Infiltration

**Chapter 40: Infiltration**

Lunas got a sense of deja vu as he dropped through the window and found himself in the bathroom. Luckily, there wasn't anybody in the stalls this time. Ren was right behind him as he laid out the mechanisms that Blade had made for him. As he looked at all of the metallic pieces, Lunas finally acknowledged the benefits of having someone good with robotics on the team. He picked up a spy drone and activated it, pulling out his scroll as he did so.

"Watch the door, make sure nobody comes in," Lunas instructed Ren before moving to a corner and tuning his scroll into the frequencies the drone was putting out.

Lunas hit the big "on" switch that appeared on his screen and the drone came to life with the characteristic whirr of machinery. His scroll lit up with buttons and dials, making him more than a little confused. He opened a menu and flicked a switch, which turned the complex of buttons into a simple controller. There was an analog stick for movement and four buttons, each for a different move. The "X" button made it jump, "square" made it leap to the left, "circle" made it leap to the right, and "triangle" made it play dead.

"Done messing around?" Ren asked.

"Oh yeah, sorry." Lunas replied, a little disgruntled.

Lunas, in full control now that he had simplified the controls, maneuvered the drone to him and laid his hand on it. Blade had added a special feature where it was possible to infuse someone's aura into it, thereby giving it the ability to use that person's Semblance. Lunas' Semblance was Invisibility, so the drone would inherit this. The aura could only be sustained in the drone for ten minutes, but Lunas could use his scroll to transmit more aura into it from afar.

"Ready." Lunas laid his hand of the drone and watched as Ren prepared to open the door.

He set the drone down and watched as it turned invisible, adjusting to look at the first person display on the scroll. He pushed forward on the stick and the drone moved to the door. Lunas gave the signal and Ren opened the door to the hallway, closing it as Lunas gave another signal.

"Drone is deployed." Lunas said into the throat mic. "Has everyone else gotten in?"

* * *

><p>Blade and Hailey watched as everyone else split off to their respective entry points. When they were out of sight, Blade reached into his backpack and pulled out a mechanical grappling hook. He aimed it at the roof and fired, watching as the hook flew up to the edge and stuck.<p>

"Ready to fly?" He asked Hailey as he grabbed the rope.

"Cacaw." She replied, flapping her arms before wrapping them around him to secure herself.

Blade smiled for a second as he felt the warm arms encircle him before pressing the trigger. The rope shot up, pulling the two students with it. They landed quietly on the roof and made their way to one of the skylights.

"Alright, we need to find a silent way to open this door." Hailey said, inspecting the lock.

"I have an idea." Blade reached into his pack again and brought out a blowtorch.

"That's not exactly 'silent'."

"You want to bet?" Blade started the blowtorch, which emitted a blue flame with nary a sound.

"...I stand corrected." Hailey watched as the blowtorch cut through the lock.

Blade waited until the lock was destroyed before shutting off the blowtorch and putting it back in his pack. He opened the skylight and gestured for Hailey to go in.

"Ladies first."

"Yes we are, thanks for noticing." Hailey replied as she dropped by him.

"Welp, that was a mistake." Blade muttered as he followed behind her.

They landed in a hallway and quickly moved to a room. Blade opened the door and started inside.

"Drone is deployed," They heard Lunas say into the mic as they made their way through. "Has everyone else gotten in?"

"We're bunkered down in a room on the target's floor, waiting for closing." Blade responded.

One thing Blade and Hailey had forgotten about was the grappling hook, which still lay where they had left it after using it to get to the roof. A security camera panned sideways to the edge of its reach and caught a bit of it. The control room inside the casino exploded with activity as they realized someone had broken into the facility. Word was sent to the White Fang member, but she dismissed it as a petty problem, fit for the guards to handle. This would prove to be her downfall.

* * *

><p>Yang took a deep breath, looking at the beautiful neon lights that lit up the night. She was nervous, but one thought made her open the doors and walk inside.<p>

'_For Blake._'

The scene inside was insane: There were slot machines spewing out coins whenever somebody won, roulette tables where people watched as a ball rolled in a circle, poker games with chips stacked feet high, and bars with a lot of drunk people swaying in their chairs and talking loudly.

'_Bunch of idiots, who would come here?_' She asked herself as she made her way over to the entry desk.

Her job was to find the White Fang operative and strike up a conversation with her, a hard task considering the hatred Yang felt for the woman. The first challenge would be restraining herself from murdering the target on sight. Yang shook herself to clear her head and kept on her path to the bar. One of the things she did best was persuade bartenders to talk to her.

"Hello there, beautiful. What can I do for you?" As always, the bartender initiated the conversation.

"Oh, hi. I was just looking for a friend of mine."

"And who would this be, sweetheart?"

"Somebody called Kaitel, do you know of her?"

The bartender looked around fearfully before leaning in and answering in a quiet voice.

"Listen, that's not someone you want to be asking around for. She's the cream of the crop around here, and she usually gets her way. Now shoo, before someone gets suspicious."

"I'm not going anywhere without seeing her." Yang announced resolutely, placing a heap of lien on the table.

The bartender sighed and gathered the money quickly, making sure nobody saw it.

"She's playing high stakes poker right now, she's the one who always wins. Now get out of here."

Yang thanked him and made her way over to the poker tables, where the yelling was reduced to occasional outbursts as somebody won a hand. It didn't take long for her to find Kaitel, as the shouts seemed to be coming from her table the most. Kaitel had her chips stacked almost to the low hanging light, while the other players had ten at most. As Yang watched, Kaitel won again, raking in the measly amount of chips on the table.

"Drone is deployed, has everyone else gotten in?" Yang heard Lunas say through her earbud.

She made a note of what Kaitel was wearing, then walked over to a bathroom as Blade responded.

"We're bunkered down in a room on the target's floor, waiting for closing."

She locked herself in one of the stalls and brought the mic to her mouth.

"I have located and identified the target. She's at the poker table. She's on a lucky streak, so she might be there a while."

* * *

><p>Lunas heard Yang's response and controlled the spy drone through the mostly empty hallways. The only sign of life he saw was the staff cleaning the rooms. The drone continued forwards without a sound, making its way toward the first floor. Lunas' job was to get the drone inside Kaitel's handbag so that they could listen to her conversations. Yang would direct the drone to the target and Lunas would pick the right time to jump inside the handbag. Blade and Hailey would wait upstairs near Kaitel's room and listen for the opportune time to strike.<p>

"Drone is on the main floor," Lunas said into the mic. "Where are you Yang?"

"Just walking out of the bathroom." Yang replied.

Lunas looked around with the drone and spotted a mane of blonde hair.

"I see you, show me where Kaitel is."

Yang led the way back to the poker table, indicating Kaitel when she got there. Lunas positioned the drone behind her and began the waiting game. Luckily, the chance to get in unseen came quickly, as Kaitel won another hand and leaned across the table to gather her small earnings. The drone opened the handbag and hopped in, closing the flap behind it.

"It's in." Lunas said.

"Activate the microphone." Blade responded.

"How do I do that?"

"Third row, fifteenth button from the left."

"I changed to controller mode."

"Well switch it back, there's no way to activate it in controller mode."

Lunas hit a button on the side of his scroll and his screen turned back to one with switches and buttons everywhere. He counted fifteen buttons over in the third row and hit it.

"Did it work?" Lunas asked.

"Yep, I got sound now." Blade adjusted his headphones and gestured for Hailey to do the talking from now on.

"Yang, can you make your way to me?"

"Where exactly are you?" Yang asked.

"Bathroom, second floor, west side."

"On my way."

"Alright guys, just bunker down for a while. We'll get her soon."

* * *

><p>It was another two hours before Kaitel finally made her way back to her room, thirty minutes after official closing. Blade had been monitoring every conversation Kaitel had had via the drone and he had already sent the information back to Beacon. He and Hailey were now preparing to break into Kaitel's room and take her hostage.<p>

"Head on over to her room," Lunas said. "She has two bodyguards outside, so take them out first."

"Will do." Blade led the way to the only door with guards out front.

The guards perked up as they saw two unauthorized people walk up to them.

"Hey, you're not allowed to-" The guard was cut off by a swift kick to the face by Hailey, while Blade struck the other with the hilt of his knife.

Blade knocked on the door softly, looking around to make sure there weren't any more guards. The door opened and a tired looking Kaitel poked her head out, only to get pulled out into the hallway. Hailey stuck out her leg and Kaitel fell full length to the ground. Blade knelt down and stuck a chloroform rag in her face. Kaitel rapidly lost consciousness and Blade picked her up. The whole process from the guards to capture had taken a total of ten seconds.

"Got her, now let's get out of here." Blade said into the mic, smiling at how well that had gone.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>  
><strong>So because I am unable to upload tomorrow as I would on schedule, I decided I would release this chapter a day early. Think of it as a thank you for the continued support. I still have that code for a month of free Hulu Plus, just PM me if you want it. As always, thanks for reading and if you you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881<strong>


	41. Chapter 41: Fate of All Huntsmen

**Chapter 41: Fate of All Huntsmen**

Sun walked through the halls, making his way to Combat Training. He was still waiting for information on how the strike force had done, and as he walked into the auditorium, he saw his answer.

"Lunas!" He called, rushing over to him. "How did it go?"

"Like clockwork, we got Kaitel locked in a room with an ASH in case she has an escape Semblance." Lunas replied with a slight smile.

"Excellent! How are you? Any injuries?" Sun pulled Lunas into a hug.

"I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me." Lunas gently disengaged from the hug. "I can take care of myself."

Sun looked over to the stage, where Combat Training was getting under way. It was singles today, so everyone had to fight at least once and they had to fight one person. This gave Sun an idea.

"Let's put it to the test, one v one me bro."

"You have got to be kidding me." Lunas rolled his eyes before nodding his head. "Fine, let's go."

They walked down the aisles and found their friends sitting there.

"Hey Sun, who are you fighting?" Krystal asked. "I'm still open if you need someone."

"I'm fighting Lunas." Sun replied.

"This should be good, but I'm sure you'll win." Aurora walked over and hugged Sun, whispering into his ear. "You always do."

"Eh, it should be close, he's got invisibility on his side. You can't fight what you can't see." Sun laughed, trying to cover up the nervousness he felt.

"Well it's time to find out, get out there." Krystal gestured to the stage, where Colton and Quentin of team QUBE had just finished their match. "Colton just won."

"Ready?" Sun asked Lunas.

"Let's go."

* * *

><p>The forest around Beacon Cliffs had been off limits for students for a while now, with Ozpin only letting groups on missions in. The Grimm had been gathering here as well, as a major trade route between Beacon and Lighthouse ran through it. It had a very sinister air to it now. The trees didn't let much sunlight through their leaves, creating patterns of shadow on the ground. The Grimm were constantly calling out to each other, seeming to communicate the positions of any humans in the area.<p>

It was here that Lance and Tyger found themselves, walking through the woods and tightening the grip on their weapons at the slightest sound.

"Did you hear that?" Tyger asked as he heard a slithering noise, his voice wavering.

"That was me, I just sheathed and unsheathed my sword." Lance replied, looking just as scared as Tyger.

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to take this job."

"I think you're right."

The two Beacon students stopped short as a roar echoed through the trees. They turned to face it, leaving their backs open for attack. Their bodies slumped to the ground a second later, surrounded by a rapidly growing pool of blood.

* * *

><p>Sun looked across the arena to his brother, taking the time to admire the weapons Lunas used. They were two crossbows with simple reload mechanisms. Sun searched his brain for their names, finally finding them as the ten second countdown began: Bacari and Marisi.<p>

'_Just stay calm, you can see him with Sensor,_' He thought, but the deepest recesses of his brain houses a different view. '_But Sensor can only help for a little while, your aura won't last forever._'

Further argument was interrupted as the timer struck zero and Sun shot forwards. He was mere feet away from striking Lunas, who still hadn't moved, when he disappeared. Sun looked around before dodging sideways as a crossbow bolt seemed to come out of nowhere. He rolled out of the fall and activated his Sensor, revealing everything around him. He could see his friends and fellow students in the stands, cheering the combatants on. He could see Goodwitch, who seemed invested in the fight for once. And, most importantly, he could see Lunas, who was raising his crossbows for another attempt at him.

'_Got you now._' Sun thought, readying for a full-out sprint.

Lunas was in the process of shooting when Sun moved. Sun jumped sideways, letting the bolts fly harmlessly by him. He then started running forwards, directly at Lunas. He watched closely as Lunas reloaded and canceled his Sensor. Now aiming at something he couldn't see anymore, Sun lunged forward and swung his staff just as the bolts appeared in his vision. Sun met his mark, finding Lunas at the exact position that he had guessed, a meter to the left of where he had seen him before. The bolts flew by, as Lunas had expected Sun to continue on a straight trajectory. Instead, Sun had known that Lunas would fire and move, so he had adjusted accordingly.

Lunas was sent backward, not anticipating the hit. His aura fell to the orange and Sun moved forward, ready to end the fight. Lunas lay on the ground for a second, noticing that his crossbows were well out of reach. Sun stood over him for a second before bringing his staff down. The staff struck bare ground and Lunas leaped forward, bringing one of his dirks out in the process. He stabbed at Sun's leg and connected, bringing his aura down a bit. He grabbed another of his dirks and started pushing Sun back in a dazzling array of knife work. Sun was unable to keep up with both knives using his staff and so turned to one last desperate measure. He blocked both strikes and swept his tail out in front of him, forcing Lunas to step back to avoid getting hit. Sun then threw his staff directly at Lunas, who swayed to the side and laughed before being hit by one of his own dirks. Sun had stolen it when he had hit Lunas earlier and thrown it, catching Lunas off guard. Lunas' aura fell to the red and the match was called.

* * *

><p>Ozpin steepled his hands as he stared at the report in front of him. The student who had brought him it was standing by nervously, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to leave. Ozpin sighed and put the report down for a second.<p>

"Thank you for bringing me this. You may leave now, Jerem." He said, watching as the relieved student hurried out the door.

Ozpin turned his attention back to the report, reading over it a second time to make sure he hadn't missed anything. Apparently the death counter for students was up five hundred percent for the last few weeks. These deaths were all due to the invasion of trade routes by the Grimm population. The latest deaths were two members of Team BOLT, who had been sent on a simple recon mission. Another recon team had found them when they noticed that Lance wasn't responding on the radio. The bodies had been found mutilated and barely recognizable with an ocean of blood around them. Ozpin thought for a second before hitting a button on his desk.

"Yes?" A voice answered.

"Matt? Could you send Blade of Team BOLT in here please? I have some… information for him."

"Will do, sir."

Ozpin leaned back in his chair and sighed again, enjoying the time he had before he would have to deliver terrible news.

* * *

><p>Sun walked over to Lunas and helped him up off the ground.<p>

"Good fight, you almost had me." He said, smiling widely.

"That was a good idea, using my own dirk against me." Lunas replied.

The two continued talking as they walked off the stage to their friends.

"Sun!" Aurora was the first to run over, hugging her boyfriend tightly.

"Yes, thanks Aurora. And Lunas?" Sun caught his brother's eye. "You're off the hook."

Lunas sighed in relief and started on his way out before running into a very distressed Blade.

"Woah tiger, what's the matter?" He asked in a concerned voice.

Blade looked visibly hurt by Lunas' unintentionally poor choice of words.

"Tyger and Lance are… they're gone."

"No way... Blade I'm so-"

"Stop. I don't want your pity, we need to move on."

"But surely you need time…" Lunas trailed off as a resolute shake of the head was the only answer he got. "Then what's your plan now?"

"I'm with you, we have to find Blake."

"What's going on?" Sun said as he walked over.

"We lost the rest of BOLT." Lunas replied.

"...Tyger and Lance?"

"...Yes."

"How?"

"I have no idea, the fact is that they're gone. There's nothing we can do to bring them back."

All three of them hung their heads in a moment of silence before starting up the conversation again.

"We need to stop losing people, our mental states can't keep taking these hits."

"I agree," Lunas turned his attention to Blade again. "Can you make me a drone?"

"What kind do you want?" Blade looked happy to get off the topic of death.

"I want one that can send electrical shocks in varying degrees."

"I can have one made in half an hour, how soon do you need it?"

"I need it for the interrogation, can you bring it as soon as it's done to the ASH room?"

"Absolutely. I'll stay to watch too, I want to see how well it works."

"Thanks, go ahead and do that."

Blade left and Sun laid a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Don't be inhumane about it." He said.

"I'll go as far as it takes to make her talk."

Sun shook his head and turned away.

"Just don't go too far." He muttered.

* * *

><p>Lunas took a seat opposite Kaitel. She looked about ready to chew his head off. Unluckily for her, Lunas was just as ready to do the same.<p>

"You know why we want you?" He asked in a very calm voice.

Kaitel refused to talk.

"You don't? Well let me tell you. You are a member of an organization called the White Fang, one of the top leaders, in fact. You are also a member of the Vespers, a group of criminal masterminds bent on God knows what. Sound familiar?"

Kaitel just glared at him, forcing Lunas to show his hand earlier than he had expected.  
>"If you do not comply, I have a few things that I can use to make you talk."<p>

A very brief glimpse of fear found its way into Kaitel's eyes before being quickly covered up. Lunas saw it and allowed a slight smile onto his face, a smile that never reached his eyes.

"Would you like that?" Lunas pressed a button and called out. "Blade, bring in the drone."

Blade walked in, presented the drone, and left again.

"This is a shock drone. If you don't talk, this thing will make you. Now let me ask again: Will you willingly talk?"

Kaitel spit, missing him and landing on the ground behind him.

"Alright then, let's get started."

Lunas activated the drone, watching as it flew up into the air and targeted Kaitel.

"Where is the location of Blake Belladonna?"

Kaitel didn't respond, instead choosing to brace herself. Lunas signaled to Blade in the control room and the drone moved closer to her. It began to wind up, giving Kaitel more and more time to regret her decision. Finally, a bolt of electricity shot out of the machine. Kaitel sat and took it before speaking for the first time, a mocking smile coming across her face.

"That all you got?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>Happy belated Halloween! I hope everyone had a great time trick or treating (even you 30 year olds). I enjoyed the quiet of my room, where I played video games all day. Also, is anyone else excited for the release of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare? The Day Zero Edition is coming out tommorow and I will be getting that. Anyways, all irl things aside, thank you all for reading this chapter of ASITD. If you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**


	42. Chapter 42: Recuperation

**Pre-Chapter Author's Note: First off, Merry Christmas everyone. I would like to say that this is a one-off chapter for the immediate future, not a return to normal. I've had this chapter nearly complete for a while now and finally found time to finish it. I'm sorry for the lack of content for the past few weeks, but I've been caught up in school and life things. I don't know when I will be able to write the final few chapters of this but it probably won't be anytime in the near future. Thanks for the constant views on Gray Ashes, it's been interesting to check my email and see follows and favorites for it every day. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**Chapter 42: Recuperation**

"That all you got?" Kaitel's smile threatened to push Lunas over the edge, but he kept his calm. Instead, he calmly leaned across the table.

"Only in your wildest dreams, sweetheart. I ask you again, where is the location of Blake Belladonna?"

Kaitel again kept her silence, as she was now confident that Lunas could not hurt her.

"Raise the drone to forty milliamps please, Blade." Lunas allowed a cruel smile onto his face. "Now will you speak?"

Kaitel seemed to have a mental fight in her head. She knew that forty wasn't a lethal dose, but it would be extremely painful. She finally decided that she would hold out one more time. She still didn't believe that Lunas would raise it any higher out of fear of killing her. She shook her head and Lunas signaled to Blade. The drone wound up again and she braced. Nothing could have prepared her for the pain she felt. Her breathing became labored and she rested her head on the table.

"Last chance, before I raise it to sixty." Lunas' face convinced Kaitel that he was capable of going to a lethal dose.

"...Fine, you win." Her voice seemed deflated and she rested her head in her hands. "Atropa is being held captive at Mon'Oum Volcano."

"Who is Atropa? Is that Blake?"

"Yes, the hybrid."

"Thank you. Are there any plans to move her any time in the near future?"

"Not in the next two weeks."

"Is she heavily guarded?"

"Yes, the security is watertight." Kaitel finally brought her head out of her hands and Lunas could see she was on the verge of tears.

"Thank you Kaitel, it was a pleasure talking with you. I will consult you if I need any more information."

Lunas stood up and walked out the door. The only sound he heard before the door closed behind him was the soft sound of Kaitel's sobs.

* * *

><p>Sun was walking through the halls, whistling happily. He had just gotten a good grade on a test and felt like he was walking on air. His good attitude came crashing and burning to the ground as Lunas came around the corner with information about the interrogation.<p>

"I have the location of Blake." Lunas said in a very excited voice.

"Do you? Where is she?" Sun replied.

"Mon'Oum Volcano, wherever that is."

This was the point where Sun took on a gloomy look and banged his head against the wall.

"Why? Why there?" He muttered to himself, unrelenting in his hitting of the wall.

"Is there a problem?" Lunas took on a concerned face, fearing his brother would give himself a concussion if he kept it up.

"Yes, a big problem." Sun stopped and looked directly into Lunas' eyes before continuing. "Do you remember Dad at all?"

"Only little bits and pieces, nothing really significant."

"He was a good man. Our mother met him when they were very young, and they were inseparable. It was only a matter of time before they got married and had me. Two years later they had you, and things began to go south. They began fighting a lot over us and eventually they both filed for divorce. We ended up bouncing between them for a few years before our Mom decided that we should have one last family outing."

"And this was to Mon'Oum Volcano?"

Sun took a deep breath in a failed attempt to steady his nerves.

"Yes… it was. Dad agreed to the trip immediately even though Mom had prepared for an all-out war. So we left a week later with everything we needed for camping. We had never been before, so we were both excited to be going. The trip there was uneventful, with Mom and Dad even seeming to get along. It was when we made it to the volcano that tragedy struck. Dad had moved ahead of us to clear the path to our campsite, Mom was holding you because you were complaining that your feet hurt, and I was walking alongside her. Suddenly a loud screech rang through the jungle. We all stopped for a moment in fear before deciding it was nothing to worry about. Five minutes later a giant Nevermore swooped down on us when we reached a clearing. It grabbed Dad and flew off directly towards the volcano. We never saw him again." Sun lowered his head, trying to hide the tears in his eyes.

Lunas was shocked. He was speechless for a moment before trying to ask a relatively safe question.

"How long ago was this?"

"Around ten years or so, I was seven and you were five."

Both brothers stayed silent for a few minutes, absorbing the story once again.

"And now we have to go back." Lunas finally broke the silence.

Sun noted the resolve in Lunas' voice and allowed a very small smile to show on his face.

"Now we have to go back."

"Maybe we'll find Dad while we're there."

"Yeah. Then we can punch the Nevermore in the face."

The brothers shared a laugh, which echoed through the halls around them.

"I'll go inform Ozpin of this, then we can all go get Blake back." Lunas said.

"Good luck, I'll alert everyone else to the possibility of leaving any day."

* * *

><p>Colton sat back in his chair, enjoying everything the beach had to offer. The sunlight beating down on him from above. The breeze passing softly through his hair. The taste of salt from the ocean. The sounds of seagulls squawking "mine" as they flew over him. And, best of all, the warm body of Krystal, who had decided to take a nap in his arms. Yes, a vacation was just what he needed right now. To get away from the hectic life at Beacon. He enjoyed it, sure, but he needed a break from it every once in a while. With this thought in mind, he allowed himself to drift off to sleep.<p>

_*BEEP *BEEP_

"Huh?" Colton sat up in a daze, wondering what had interrupted him from his sleep.

He looked around, noticing that it was evening now. The sun was hovering just above the waterline, turning the sky a brilliant orange. He cast his attention to the ground, in search of his scroll. He started to get up but quickly realized that Krystal was still camped out on top of him. He gently nudged her, waiting for a second to see if she woke up. She didn't, so he decided to play a small prank on her. He picked her up gently and started moving towards the water. Holding her above his head, he waded in until the water was up to his chest.

"Hey Krystal, wake up!" He yelled.

Krystal awoke with a start, taking in her surroundings. She got an amazing view of the water as it rushed up to greet her. She plunged in, arms flailing and mouth screaming. She was in the water for about a second before a pair of arms encircled her chest and pulled her above again.

"NOT COOL!" She screamed as her head broke the surface of the water again.

Colton just laughed, prompting Krystal to slap him. He let it through his guard, only to block it with his aura. The result was that Krystal ended in slightly more pain than him.

"You want to try that again?" He replied, watching Krystal wave her hand around in an attempt to alleviate the pain.

"No, dear, I would never do that." Krystal brought him into a hug, taking the golden opportunity to jab him in the ribs.

Colton didn't have enough time to focus his aura before he got the wind knocked out of him, so he signaled the white flag.

"You win, let's just go grab a bite to eat." He grabbed Krystal's hand and led the way out of the water.

They walked up the beach to their chairs and gathered up their gear. Colton grabbed his scroll but just packed it away. The message he had received was a warning about an influx of Grimm in their area, but Colton never took the time to check. They headed to the nearby seafood restaurant, not noticing the multiple pair of eyes following them or the sound of howling coming from the distance.

* * *

><p>Sandman woke up in a daze and looked around in confusion.<p>

'_Where am I?_' He asked himself.

He was in a white room with three beds and two doors, but no other furniture. One wall was one-way glass and he stood up to further investigate it. As was usual with one-way glass, he couldn't see through it, so he turned his attention to the doors. One was right beside him, and it looked like it led to whatever was on the other side of the glass. This one was locked, but the other one led to a small bathroom. He looked over to the beds and saw Everett and Archer sleeping on them. His situation was becoming more puzzling every second. This confusion dispersed when Pyrrha walked in and dropped her clipboard in shock.

"Pyrrha? What's going on? Where am I? What am I doing here?" His flood of questions were left unanswered as Pyrrha instead opted to rush over and hug him.

"You're back!" She said, relieved.

"Was I gone?" It was only now that he noticed the tears streaming out of her eyes.

"Just… just follow me. I'll explain everything." Pyrrha brought herself out of the hug and took his hand.

She led him out through the door and into the examination room on the other side. They sat down opposite each other and Sandman leaned forward to ask a question.

"So what happened to me?"

* * *

><p>Ruby wandered the halls aimlessly. She had nothing to do and nowhere she had to be. The loss of Weiss had been very hard on her, and she had curled into an impenetrable shell that even Yang had been unable to break. Before, she had done everything with a sense of purpose that no one else had seemed to rival, she had focused hard in the classroom, and she had had a bubbly personality that made everyone want to be around her. Now, she didn't do anything without people telling her to, she didn't pay any attention in class because she deemed it unnecessary, and she had turned into a mindless zombie. The old Ruby almost didn't exist anymore.<p>

"Hello, Ruby." A soft voice sounded from behind Ruby.

"What?" Ruby spun around, for she recognized the voice, it was "Weiss, how?"

The figure of Weiss was standing before her, yet she seemed even paler than before.

"There is not much to explain, I was shot. But don't continue like this just because of me. I died with your taste on my lips, and that's all I could have asked for."

"But… but." Ruby broke down and cried, feeling the hands of Weiss wrap around her to comfort her.

She stayed like that for a while, listening to the soft reassurance of Weiss' voice that flowed over her. Lunas, who was wandering through the halls trying to devise a plan to storm the volcano, turned a corner and saw her. She was all alone, crying in a corner and occasionally thanking nobody. Lunas quickly turned the other way and left her, trying to get the depressing image out of his mind.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>Not much to put here, as everything I wanted to say is at the beginning. Thank you for reading and sticking with me, and if you enjoyed, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Chas1881**


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